The Deaging Curse
by htdcd
Summary: When a deaging curse hits Harry & Severus, they have to grow up all over again...but is their past truly gone?
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: All intellectual & physical property of Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and Warner Bros._

**Chapter 1**

Harry awoke to the sound of his name being called. He opened his eyes and turned his head toward the sound.

"Harry…hey, Harry, you awake, mate?"

"Mmm?" Harry enjoyed a bone-cracking stretch and grinned, "I am now, thanks." He looked at the head that had appeared from the top bunk, hanging upside down and staring at him with a wide smile.

"You think they're here yet?"

"What?" Harry asked.

"Our letters. From Hogwarts – our letters. They're supposed to come today." The boy who occupied the bunk above Harry was bouncing with excitement. Harry could hear the springs squeak.

"Stop bouncing, you're going to break the bed. And I don't even know what time it is – might be too early for the post."

Suddenly, both boys heard their mother calling for breakfast.

"Harry, Severus, come and eat – the post will be here soon," her voice rang up from the kitchen.

"Race you," Severus challenged.

"You know I'll beat you," taunted Harry as he bolted out of bed and reached the door before Severus had even gotten down from his bunk. But Severus was quick and he caught up with Harry on the stairs, both of them jostling for space as they ran down.

"Boys!" their mother chided, "Stop before you break something!"

"Sorry Mum," Severus looked contrite, but winked at Harry as the two sat down to their breakfast at the table.

They were joined shortly by three younger children, all of whom had shocking, red hair.

"Ron!" their mother called, "Breakfast!"

"I'm here, Hermione, nearly blew my eardrum out," Ron huffed. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Don't inhale your food," Hermione said to her three youngest children, "You'll choke."

Suddenly, two owls flew into the open window and dropped large, cream-colored envelopes in front of Harry and Severus.

"Excellent!" Severus cheered. Both boys abandoned their eggs and kippers and tore into the letters.

"Got in," Harry confirmed.

"Well of course you did," Hermione said with a hint of exasperation.

"Already went once," Ron muttered.

"Ron, stop," Hermione warned. They didn't speak of Harry and Severus' lives before the curse – not if they could help it. They thought it made Harry and Severus upset and uneasy.

"Well, we'll head out to Diagon Alley next week and pick up your things," Hermione sent their dishes over to the sink, satisfied they had eaten enough. "Go get yourselves ready and do your chores."

"Awww, Mum!" Harry whined, "Can't we have today off? You know, to celebrate our letters?"

"Absolutely not. Your brother and sisters are going to do their chores, and you two aren't any different."

"Are too," Severus said under his breath. Hermione shot him a warning glance.

"That's enough. Go, all of you, now – time's wasting. " She ordered all five children back upstairs to bathe and dress.

Once they had gone, she sat at the table with her husband and sighed, "What do you think? Should we get them new wands?"

"What for?" Ron raised his eyebrows, "We've already got theirs – no sense in not using them."

"I suppose," Hermione seemed unsure. "What do think will happen when they get there? Do you think they'll be in the same houses – you know, as they were before?"

"I dunno. I mean, Harry seems like he's still a cert for Gryffindor, but Severus – I don't know if the hat'll put him in Slytherin or not. I mean, he's different now. Well, not completely, I guess – still a sneaky bastard if you ask me."

"Ron!" Hermione chastised him.

"Well he is," Ron retorted. "It's going to kill them if they get put in separate houses, though," he admitted.

"I know," Hermione said with a sad tone. "It's so odd – I still can't get over it. If you'd told me ten years ago that there would be a day when Harry Potter and Severus Snape would be best friends, I'd have hit you over the head with a frying pan."

"You tried to do that to me yesterday," Ron rolled his eyes.

"I know, but you deserved it," Hermione got up and kissed Ron's cheek before taking care of what was left of breakfast. "Go upstairs and make sure our angels aren't tearing apart the second story."

Ron shuffled off to check on the children and Hermione went over to the sink to supervise the dishes that were washing themselves. She stared out the window and lost herself in thought. She tried to wrap her mind around the fact that Harry and Severus were headed back to Hogwarts. Sometimes it seemed like only yesterday that she, Ron, and Harry had finished their seven years there together. She could still remember the final battle against Voldemort clearly, as if no time at all had passed. She also remembered the shock of what had happened immediately following the death of the Dark Lord: a flash of blue light streaked toward Snape, presumably from a vengeful Death Eater. Harry jumped in front of Snape to take it instead – a move Hermione heralded as not just stupid, but immensely strange – if not a bit noble. The trouble was, he didn't get there in time to take the full brunt of it, and it hit both him and Severus together. She remembered the sensation of being frozen in time as she thought her best friend was going to die, and then the shock when he didn't, in fact, crumple to the ground but instead shrunk as if he were growing backward, ending up as a tiny, gurgling infant on the ground – directly in front of a matching baby Snape. An age-reductor curse – an odd choice for revenge, for sure, but who knew what went through the Death Eaters' minds anyway – they were all nutters. Maybe they were trying to render Snape defenseless, to make him easier to kill. With spells still flying around, she ran instinctively toward the now helpless infants, grabbed their respective wands, scooped them up into her arms, and made her way as fast as she could back to the safety of the castle.

It had taken quite a bit of explaining, but everyone finally realized what had happened. There was heated debate over what would happen to the baby-Harry and baby-Snape, but Hermione and Ron had been adamant that they be allow to care for both children and raise them as their own – they certainly didn't intend to send Harry back to his Aunt's family, and Severus had none at all. In fact, they feared that some people might volunteer to raise Severus and punish him for things he had done in the past. Ron and Hermione had been planning to get married anyway and they both wanted children – this would simply be a jump-start on their family. And they had – raised the two boys as their own – and then gone on to fill their home with three additional biological children. They had made sure to tell the boys bits and pieces of their past, but not too much, and never too many details at once. The boys knew they were different – knew they had once been adults but were hit by a curse – but Hermione and Ron had made sure not to tell them anything about what kind of people they had been (especially Snape – Hermione was convinced that being raised by what she deemed 'proper parents', that he would not turn out to be an insufferable git, something of which Ron was not entirely convinced). Harry and Snape supposedly didn't have any memories of their former lives, although occasionally they would say or show knowledge of things that they shouldn't have known otherwise.

The next week held the much anticipated trip to Diagon Alley. The family of seven made their way into the Leaky Cauldron and back to the brick wall entrance. Harry and Severus were bouncing on the balls of their feet with excitement. As Ron tapped the bricks with his wand to open the arch to the Alley, Hermione tried to focus both boys.

"Now, remember, no wandering off on your own, stay close to us, and try not to draw too much attention to yourselves." Hermione and Ron had actually contemplated putting Harry and Severus in disguises, but the boys had balked and convinced them otherwise. The archway began to appear, and as the Alley came into view, the boys moved forward as if drawn by a magnet. "Boys," she warned, "I _will_ make you hold our hands if you try to bolt off." She was rewarded by a mortified stare from both of them, and their excitement was toned down a few notches. She nodded her approval.

"Where to first, then?" Ron asked as they made their way down the street.

"Mmm, I suppose we should do robes first, they'll take the longest."

"Probably right," Ron agreed.

"Of course I am," Hermione responded with a smile. They made their way to Madame Malkin's and stepped inside. Fortunately, they had made it to Diagon Alley quite early and it was not yet as crowded as it would be later in the day. This was not coincidence – they hoped to get in and out of all the necessary shops before too many people started realizing who they were.

The bells rang as they entered the shop. "Good morning, welcome to Madame…" the shop owner stopped dead. "Goodness me! Is this Mr. Potter? How wonderful to see you! Again!"

Hermione gave the woman a glare that would have made Professor McGonagall proud. The lady ceased and desisted.

"And this must be Mr. Snape. Wonderful – boys, if you'll follow me," she ushered them toward the back of the shop where the measuring was done.

"You go get the books," Hermione ordered Ron, and intimated that he take the three younger children with him.

"Right," he ushered their two daughters and other son out the door as Hermione, Harry, and Severus followed Madame Malkin into the rear of the store.

A few hours later, the family had completed their assignments – robes were purchased, book lists collected, two owls bought, and an assortment of other necessary items were in tow.

"What about our wands, Mum?" Severus inquired as they passed Ollivander's on their way back toward the Leaky Cauldron.

"We've already got your wands," Ron said.

"Already got them? When did you do that, while we were buying our owls?" Harry asked.

"No, we…" Ron was cut off by a look from Hermione.

"We'll talk about it when we get home," she said. "Keep up, Rose needs a nap." The youngest Weasley girl began to screech in protest to this announcement.

By the end of the weekend, Harry and Severus were finding it nearly impossible to sleep. They stayed awake late into the night trading stories about their hopes and dreams for the coming year at Hogwarts. Before they knew it, they were at King's Cross ready to board the train.

"Owl us if you need anything," Hermione was saying her final goodbyes, tears in her eyes.

"Mum, stop crying!" Harry squirmed out of her embrace, embarrassed.

"Go on, then, on the train with the both of you," Ron shuffled them into the nearest car.

"We love you," Hermione cried as the train began to move, billows of white steam filling the platform.

"Bye, Mum! Bye Dad! See you at Christmas!" Severus called out from the window of the compartment they'd made their way into.

Harry and Severus spent their entire time on the train swapping their fears and expectations for the coming year. A hot topic of debate was the sorting.

"Which house d'you think we'll get sorted into?" Severus asked.

"Well, Mum and Dad were both in Gryffindor, so we'll probably be in there, too," Harry surmised.

"Yeah, but what about our other parents, you know, from before. Do you know which house yours were in?" Severus seemed a bit downtrodden.

"Mine were both in Gryffindor, Dad told me," Harry said. "But he never told me about yours. Did you ask?"

Severus shook his head. "I know they didn't know my parents – just that my father wasn't even a wizard. They told me my mum's name, once, but never said which house she was in."

"Well, there's no reason you won't be in Gryffindor, then. I suppose some people don't always get sorted into the houses their parents were in."

"What if we aren't in the same house," Severus whispered, finally admitting his underlying fear.

"We'll be in the same house," Harry assured him. "Besides, Dad said the first time I went, the hat asked me what house I wanted to be in, so you can tell it you want to be in Gryffindor. We'll both tell it that and then we'll be together."

Severus seemed cheered at this information. "Right," he smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

They eventually changed into their robes as the train approached the castle and headed off the train once it arrived at the station. They were clumped together with the other first years and approached by a giant of a man.

"Firs' years, follow me!" He turned and led them to the boat house, where he proceeded to usher them into small boats in groups of three or four. His eyes finally fell upon the two boys sticking close to each other, like they were adhered with glue. "Harry!" his face broke into a smile. "S'been awhile – can' believe yer back after all this time. Haven' changed a bit, I see, 'cept, no more scar?"

"Scar?" Harry puzzled.

"Never mind," Hagrid waved his giant hand. "So this must be the Professor," he turned to Severus.

"P-Professor?" Severus stuttered. "I'm not a teacher."

"But yeh were – bit strange tryin' to call you Severus. 'Suppose I'll have to get used to it."

Harry and Severus exchanged a look of confusion. Their parents had never told them what they did as professions in their other lives.

"Please, sir," Harry began as he climbed into the boat with the half-giant.

"Hagrid," Hagrid interjected, "yeh never used to call me 'sir' – don't start now!"

"All right, erm, Hagrid, then, if Severus was a professor, what did I do? You know, before…"

"Well, you were jus' in school, weren' yeh? Hadn't had a chance to do anythin' yet, before yeh took that curse."

The boats had started forward towards the castle.

"_Took_ the curse, sir, I mean, Hagrid? What do you mean, took the curse? We just got hit with one – how can someone _take_ a curse?"

"Blimey, Harry, didn' Ron and Hermione tell you anythin'?" Hagrid looked positively stunned.

"They don't talk about it much," Severus admitted.

"Oh, well, I guess I'm not really the one to tell yeh. If Ron and Hermione didn' tell you 'bout it, they probably had a good reason."

"We don't mind," Harry said quickly. He found he was rather intrigued about learning more about his former self, even if it seemed as though he was hearing about a stranger.

"Mmm, sorry, Harry, Prof-erm, Severus. If Ron and Hermione haven' told yeh, that means they don' want yeh ter know. Sorry," he repeated.

Harry and Severus exchanged another look of dejection. If Hagrid didn't want to give them information, maybe they could find someone else here who could.

The boats finally reached the castle and the first years clamored out of the boats and filed up to the castle behind Hagrid. They were met by a familiar face – well, familiar to Harry and Severus, anyway.

"Uncle Neville!" Harry cried. With all the excitement of the day, he'd forgotten that his Uncle was now the Head of Gryffindor and also deputy Headmaster.

"Hey there Harry, Severus!" Neville gave both boys a quick squeeze. They looked around at the glances of their fellow classmates, a few seemed impressed, others uneasy, and some even seemed jealous that the two boys not only seemed to know the boat-master, Hagrid, but also the Professor that had greeted them at the castle gates. "Follow me, please, we need to get to the Great Hall for the sorting."

Severus felt a lead weight settle in his stomach as he remembered his fear of being sorted into a different house than Harry. He willed himself to channel Harry's optimism that they would be able to remain together.

The line of first years reached the entrance to the Great Hall and was led in by Professor Longbottom, filing in and making their way up to the front of the room where a tattered hat sat on a plain, wooden stool. Professor Longbottom began reading names and the students made their way up to the hat and were sorted. Finally, Harry heard his name when the list reached the P's and he rushed up to meet his uncle, who placed the hat on his head.

"Hmmm," Harry heard a voice in his ear. "Do I know you? You seem familiar."

"Um, I'm not sure," Harry thought. "Well, maybe, I've been here before."

"You have? Why are you back? This is most unusual."

"Well, there was an accident, and I had to come back to school." Harry was astonished that the hat seemed to remember him, when he didn't even remember himself.

"Right," the hat said. "Well, doesn't change anything, you're an easy sort." And with that, the hat shouted out, "Gryffindor!" for the whole hall to hear. Harry grinned and made his way over to the Gryffindor table, catching Severus' eye as he did, giving him an encouraging nod.

Severus' dread grew and grew in his gut as he waited to be called. When he did finally hear his name, he reluctantly made his way up to the hat.

"Mmm, another familiar mind," the hat seemed less surprised than it had with its encounter with Harry. "Was there an accident with you, too? Is that why you've returned to the school?"

"Erm, yes," Severus thought, surprised at the hat's accurate question, for he hadn't heard the exchange between the hat and Harry.

"Well, you're just as easy as the one before," the hat seemed relieved. And before Severus could remember to ask to go into Gryffindor, the hat shouted, "Slytherin!" to the hall.

Severus froze as he heard the pronouncement, his eyes finding Harry's as he left the stool. Both boys had looks of complete and total despair clearly on their faces. Severus felt his legs trudging, unwilling, toward the Slytherin table. He was welcomed by his housemates, but didn't hear any of their kind words; he was already devising ways to get himself moved into Gryffindor House. Surely, students had been resorted before, he hoped, and he would find a way. There was no possible way he was going to go through seven years of school separated from his best friend in the entire world, and he resolved to rectify what he now regarded as a grave injustice.

Both boys were ushered to their common rooms by the House Prefects with no chance to talk to each other, and they both lay awake late into the night, staring at the ceiling from their four-poster bed, missing the familiarity of each other, the sharing of space for the past ten years.

Both boys awoke the next morning tired, having not slept well the night before. They made their way down to breakfast in the Great Hall with their housemates and were relieved to see that sitting with one's house was not required during this meal. They searched frantically for each other, practically running toward one another when they joined eyes from across the room. They found some space at a nearby table and sat down together, emotions spilling out as they began talking at the same time.

"I can't believe you're in Slytherin!" "There's got to be a way to change it!" "We can write home, maybe Mum can do something about it." "Maybe Uncle Neville can help."

After both boys cleared their minds of their rattling thoughts, they began to plan their course of action. They would approach their uncle first, and then involve their parents if that didn't work. Before they left the hall to get to class, they made their way up to the head table to talk to their uncle.

"Erm, Uncle Neville, could we talk to you for a moment?" Harry asked.

"Sure, Harry," Neville looked concern, reading the looks of tension on the boys' faces. "Is something wrong?"

"I want to be in Gryffindor. With Harry," Severus cut to the chase.

Neville paused, gathering his thoughts before he responded. "Severus, you were sorted into Slytherin. You were in Slytherin before, too. The hat put you there for a reason. You can't just switch Houses."

"But I don't want to be in Slytherin! The hat didn't even ask me what I wanted! I want to be with Harry, I want to be in Gryffindor like Mum and Dad were. I don't want to be alone," he finished quietly, voicing his fear.

"Alone? Severus, you'll make friends in your own House. That's part of the fun of school – meeting new people, making new friends. You won't be alone."

"I don't want to make new friends. I'm already friends with Harry."

"I don't want us to be separated, either, Uncle Neville. Isn't there any way we could be together?" Harry pushed.

"No, boys, I'm sorry, but the sorting is final." Neville sounded truly sorry. He understood how it felt to feel alone, without friends. "But you'll be able to spend a lot of time together – you'll have classes together, you can eat breakfast and lunch together, study together. You'll have plenty of time together."

"We'll have classes together?" Harry's eyes brightened.

"Of course! Slytherin and Gryffindor always have most of their classes together. Haven't you looked at your schedules yet?" Neville was perplexed.

"No," Severus admitted. He pulled his out at the same time as Harry, and they leaned together so they could see each other's. "Hey! We _have_ got every class together!" He suddenly felt loads better.

"See," Neville smiled at them both. "Speaking of class, you're both going to be late if you don't get going."

The boys exchanged a glance and left the hall at top speed. On their way to Transfiguration, they debated the current situation.

"Well, I suppose we can give it a go and wait to owl Mum if it gets too bad," Harry proposed.

"Yeah, sounds good. Uncle Neville's right, really the only time we'll be apart is at dinner and for bed." Severus was relieved.

"I couldn't sleep last night," Harry admitted.

"Me either," Severus agreed. "It was weird – you not being there. The other boys snored so loudly."

"One of my roommates talks in his sleep," Harry giggled. "It's bizarre!"

The boys made it through their classes that day with little incident and they realized the biggest problem they were going to have among Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and History of Magic was staying awake during Binns' soporific lectures about Goblin Wars and the like.

The next day they started a fresh round of classes. They would have Charms, more Defense, and a double Potions lesson. After lunch, they made their way to the dungeons for Potions together. As they entered the classroom, they saw tables set up with two chairs each, and they assumed they were expected to pair up. Everywhere they looked, Gryffindors paired with each other and Slytherins followed suit. They realized they were the only mixed pair in the entire room. As Professor Slughorn (who had been more than happy to stay on as Potions Professor after the imminent threat to his life was removed) called roll, he stopped when he realized that Harry was paired with Severus.

"Mr. Potter and…Mr. Snape? You're…you've paired up together? Isn't there anyone else you'd like to work with?" Slughorn seemed very disconcerted that the two boys would choose to be together for an extended period of time.

"Erm," Harry was uncomfortable – were Gryffindors and Slytherins not supposed to work together? "Do we have to separate?" he asked his Professor, desperately hoping the answer would be no.

"Well, no, I suppose not, but…" Slughorn still seemed confused. "I just thought…my word, Potter and Snape…together. Quite unexpected, that's all." He shook his head, as if clearing out dust. "Right then! Let's get to work on a simple cleaning solution!" And with that, he set them to task.

As the boys worked through the instructions, Severus began to get odd, gut feelings as they put together the ingredients. Soon, he was deviating ever so slightly from the prescribed directions – adding extra stirs here, a pinch of extra ingredients there. Harry sometimes gave him a sideways glance, not sure what was making Severus do what he was doing, but the potion seemed to stay on track, so he didn't question him out loud. Finally, time was up and Slughorn made his way around the classroom to inspect. He stopped dead when he reached Harry and Severus.

"Incredible," he whispered. "Never, in my years, have I seen a first year produce such flawless results. Unbelievable. Of course, you'd have made it before, but would you remember?" he seemed to be talking to himself. He shook his head again and addressed the pair, "Tell me, do either of you remember ever attempting this potion?"

Both boys shook their heads.

"Well, have you ever seen it done before? Perhaps at home?"

Again, the boys shook their heads.

"Well, perhaps, given that it's you, Severus…perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised." And he gave Severus an appraising look and finished his rounds.

As they left class, Severus and Harry exchanged a low conversation.

"What d'you suppose he meant, asking if we remembered doing it before? When would we have ever made a potion before? And why wouldn't we remember it? And what do you think he meant when he said that he wasn't surprised because it was me? Why did it seem like he didn't care that you were working on it, too?"

"I dunno," Harry said genuinely. "I mean, I suppose that before, you know, before the accident, we learned all this stuff when we were here the first time, but we don't remember any of it – he has to know that. If we remembered it, we wouldn't have to be here, doing it over again."

Another odd incident occurred later that week while Harry and Severus were studying outside by the lake together. A second-year boy wearing Slytherin robes approached them, flanked by two surly-looking friends.

"Oi, what d'you think you're doing, hanging about with a Gryffindor?" he leered at Severus.

"What, I can't even be friends with him, just because he's not in our House?" Severus asked heatedly.

"The bigger question is, why would you even want to?" one of his friends sneered.

"Looks like we're going to have to teach you a lesson about proper Slytherin pride," the front boy said, pulling his wand and pointing it at Severus.

Before he could get out a spell, however, Harry had pulled his wand without thinking and pointed back at the boy. "Expelliarmus!" he shouted, and all three boys' wands shot out of their hands into the air toward Harry, and he caught them on the way down. The three boys' eyes widened in their heads as they stared at Harry in amazement.

"Hey, never mind, mate, sorry," the boy seemed genuinely frightened at what Harry might do next, now that all three of them were disarmed. "Give us back our wands and we'll leave you alone."

Harry regarded them for a moment, unsure of why they seemed so eager now to leave. He tossed their wands back to them, though, and exchanged a look with Severus as the trio ran away.

"Wicked spell, where'd you learn that?" Severus asked once the boys were out of earshot.

"Dunno," Harry said. "It just came to me – I didn't even know what it would do. It just felt like the right thing to say."

"Crazy," Severus shook his head in amazement. "First that thing in Potions, now this spell of yours; what d'you reckon is going on?"

"No idea," Harry said, truthfully. "Not so bad, though, is it?" He brightened at a new thought, "Seems like it'll only help us out – Slughorn seemed impressed enough."

"Hadn't thought of that," Severus conceded. "You're probably right."

Soon, Harry and Severus were performing at the top of every class. They were the first to master the transfigurations, they always brewed the best potions, and they picked up the charms, hexes, and jinxes faster than anyone else in their year. In fact, things came so easily for them that the only time they had to spend on homework was when they were set essays.

Even though they saw quite a bit of each other during the school day and on weekends, they still wished they had been sorted into the same houses. It was with great pleasure, then, when they were able to go home for the Christmas holidays and not be forced apart for any length of time.

"So," Hermione began guardedly their first evening back over dinner, "I hear the two of you are at the head of your classes."

Harry and Severus looked at each other and shrugged. "I suppose," Harry said nonchalantly. He couldn't imagine his parents being upset that the two of them were earning _good_ marks.

"Mmm," Hermione let out a noncommittal noise. "I hope you two haven't been sharing your work," she hedged.

"Mum!" Severus was angry, "We'd never cheat! Why would you think we would cheat?"

"No," Hermione backpedaled, throwing a pleading glance at Ron, "We didn't think that, it's just…some of your professors are…well, they're unsure of how you're making such quick progress."

"I guess we're just brilliant. Not complaining, though," Severus added.

"Some of your teachers have told us that you can do things – that you know spells and such that they haven't even taught yet."

"So? Is that a bad thing? It's helped us out a few times," Harry defended.

"No," Ron finally chimed in. "It's just, well, we were wondering if you maybe were remembering things that you knew…from…you know, from before."

Harry and Severus were quiet. It wasn't often their parents brought up their lives from before the accident. Usually they waited until Harry or Severus asked them a question.

"No, not remembering. It's more like, well, it's like stuff just pops into my head – stuff that just feels right," Severus offered, hoping it would suffice as an explanation. He didn't really know how else to explain it.

"Well, all right then," Hermione said, and she was apparently satisfied because she let the subject drop.

That night, after the family had gone to bed, Harry and Severus lay awake in their bunks. Both of them knew neither had fallen asleep.

"Harry?" Severus finally said in the dark.

"Yeah?" Harry answered.

"I can't sleep."

"Me neither."

Both boys were silent for a time.

"D'you wanna come down here?" Harry finally asked.

"Yeah," Severus admitted. Harry heard the creaking of the springs as Severus shifted to get down from the top bunk. Harry scooted over toward the wall to make room for Severus to crawl under the covers next to him. This was something they had done frequently when they were younger. They would build a fort from the bottom bunk and fall asleep together after staying up late and playing make-believe. The familiarity of the past fell comfortingly on both boys, and Severus move closer to Harry, snuggling up against him and throwing his arm around Harry's stomach. "I missed you," Severus whispered.

"Me too," Harry smiled, and within a few minutes, both boys were sound asleep.

The end of the holidays brought back the reality of school, and Severus and Harry were quite sad to leave home. Every night over the break they had slept together in Harry's bottom bunk, and they knew it would be hard to break away from that. Both boys expected more than a few sleepless nights.

The rest of their first year passed much the same as the beginning had, though without the wrenching heartache of the first night when they had been sorted into different houses. By the end of the year, though, the boys' reputation had been proven when they both finished first and second in every subject – even History of Magic, even though neither one of them had ever managed to stay awake for an entire lesson all year.

Once they had come back home for the summer holidays, both of them were determined to maintain their top-in-the-year standing by completing their set assignments. The first few weeks, they relished the closeness both at night and during the day, but after that, they fell into the routines that had been established before they had even been to Hogwarts. The only event of any consequence, in fact, was something that happened shortly after Harry's twelfth birthday. He awoke one morning and, half asleep, made his way to the loo. As he made to relieve himself, he suddenly realized that his penis was sticking straight out. Concerned, he pulled down his pajama pants and noticed that he had suddenly developed a thatch of hair in that region as well. He became so upset that he quite forgot he had to pee and instead, ran into his parents' bedroom, intent on making them aware of what he was sure had to be a serious medical issue. Disconcerted when he realized the bedroom was empty, he rushed downstairs to see if they were at the table. He skidded to a stop in front of Ron.

"Dad," he said, breathless. "Dad, there's something wrong with me!"

"What?" Ron looked up sharply with concern, "What's wrong? Are you ill?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "Could you…could you come with me?" He glanced around at his mother and younger brother and sisters, acutely aware that he did not want to have this conversation in front of them.

"Of course," Ron agreed and immediately rose from his seat to accompany Harry, who led them to the downstairs loo.

"Well, this morning I woke up," Harry began, "and in the loo, I looked down and…and…" he couldn't explain what was wrong, and the issue was now gone.

"What? What happened when you looked down?" Ron was confused.

Harry focused on what he did know. "Well, it's all hairy down there, why am I suddenly sprouting hair all over?"

Ron paled. This, of course, sent Harry into a desperate tailspin and he blurted out the rest. "And it was all stiff – poking out – it's gone now, but…but it was sticking straight out!"

Ron was frozen in complete awkwardness.

"Dad?" Harry pleaded, sure he was the victim of some terminal illness, "Dad, am I dying?"

"What?" Ron was jolted out of his silence. "Dying? Of course you're not dying."

The relief was visible on Harry's face. Perhaps he'd just have to see a healer, then. "Do I have to go to St. Mungo's?"

"What?" Ron was confused, now. "Of course not, it's…you're…well, let's go back to the kitchen. Your mum can explain it to you."

They made their way back to the table, Ron's hand guiding Harry. Ron cleared his throat and Hermione looked up. "Is everything all right?" she asked with concern.

"Erm, yeah," Ron shuffled his feet and looked at the floor. "Could you come into the sitting room with us?"

Hermione looked puzzled, but got up and followed them both.

Once the three of them were out of earshot of the three younger children still eating breakfast, Ron broke the silence. "Erm, this morning, Harry woke up with, well, he noticed…" Ron was flushing with embarrassment. "Well, he woke up a bit, erm, stiff," he gestured toward his groin. Hermione's eyes popped open with understanding. Her eyes flickered between Ron and Harry, finally settling on Ron and composing herself.

"Well, did you explain it to him?" she said with an air of expectation.

"No way! You're better at that stuff than I am – you explain it to him – I'll call Sev down and you can do them both at once."

"Oh, no, Ronald Weasley, I get the girls. You get the boys."

Ron looked like he would rather face a Hungarian Horntail rather than have "the talk" with his two oldest boys. "But you're so much better…" Ron tried the weak flattery again.

"Absolutely not," Hermione was adamant, effectively closing the subject. "I'll go get Severus. I'll spare you Hugo, he won't need it for another few years."

Ron sighed and began to fidget with his pockets. "Well," he said to Harry without meeting his eyes, "Sit down."

Harry was soon joined by Severus – bleary-eyed and still in his pajamas as well – on the couch. Severus looked confused why he was 'getting a talking to' in the sitting room by his father on a random Tuesday morning before he left for work.

"Right," Ron began, "Well, I'm sure you've noticed that you're…erm…changing."

Harry and Severus exchanged a glance, then returned their eyes to their father.

"This is, well, normal. I mean, it happens to everybody, eventually. It's, erm, it can be weird, sometimes, but it's not all bad, I mean, you'll start to get taller, and the hair isn't so bad, and then, you'll…start to notice…I guess, girls," Ron finally gave up, well aware that his face was matching his hair. "Hermione!" he called.

Her head popped out from behind the archway, "What?" she seemed perturbed.

"Don't you…can't we…isn't there a book or something we can give them?" Ron pleaded.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course I have a book. You're such a prat." Ron sighed with marked relief. Hermione disappeared for a moment and then returned with a thin, hardback book and held it out, clearly irritated at Ron. He took it from her.

"Right," he turned to the boys. "This should answer all your questions. If not, well, I guess I can answer anything else you come up with." He looked like he seriously hoped the book would do its job. Severus reached out and took the book. "You might want to take it upstairs," Ron suggested.

They boys went back upstairs to their room to peruse the book together. After the first few pages, which fortunately, the boys both thought, came with illustrations, Severus asked a question.

"Why'd Dad decide to give us this book? Why now?"

"Well," Harry began, "I woke up this morning and thought something was wrong with me."

"Wrong with you?" Severus was a little concerned.

Harry recounted the tale of the bathroom, the horror, and then the discussion with Ron.

"Oh, that," Severus said nonchalantly. "Happens to me, too." And he turned back to the book.

"Wait," Harry put his hand on Severus' shoulder to recapture his attention. "It's happened to you? When?"

"A few times, just before the end of school. A couple of times since we've been home. It goes away after you use the loo."

"Huh. How'd you figure out nothing was wrong with you?" Harry found himself annoyed that he had clearly overreacted.

"It happened to some other boys in my dorm before it happened to me. Some of them had older brothers, so they knew what was going on. It's not a big deal."

Harry was glad to know he wasn't alone in experiencing these changes. "Does the book say when it will go away? I mean, are we going to wake up like that the rest of our lives?"

"Hmmm," Severus skimmed the text. "Well, it says it won't happen as often as we get older, but no, it doesn't say it'll stop. In fact, it says it might happen other times, too, if we get…uh," he stumbled over the word, embarrassed, "stimulated."

"Well, that explains what Dad mentioned about girls."

"No girl I've seen yet is very stimulating to me," Severus snorted.

"Too right," Harry agreed. They tired of the book quickly and decided to clean up and go downstairs to eat.


	2. Chapter 2

_Mature content - read with discretion_

**Chapter 2**

Before they knew it, September was upon them and they were headed back to Hogwarts on the train.

Even though the work they were set was definitely more difficult, they were able to employ their unexplainable knowledge of magic to perform admirably – and since their mother had talked to the professors, none of them any longer thought the boys might be cheating. Harry had even made the House Quidditch team as Seeker ("Well of _course_ you did," everyone from his Uncle Neville to the groundskeeper Hagrid had said.). He wanted Severus to try out for the Slytherin team, but Severus had said he preferred watching Quidditch to playing it. All in all, things were going well. The only exception was that Harry wasn't sleeping well. He had started having strange dreams – dreams about mirrors and stones and snakes and swords. He could never piece them together once he woke up, but they made it difficult for him to sleep through the night. He mentioned them to Severus.

"Yeah, I've had some strange ones, myself lately," Severus surprised him with this revelation.

"Really? The same stuff as me?" Harry was intrigued that they would be having the same dreams.

"No, at least, I don't think so – none of the stuff you've said sounds familiar. Mine aren't really pleasant, either, though – mostly I'm in a dark place and I can hear people shouting – sometimes I think they're shouting at me. I can never hear what they're saying. And then I hear curses, spells I don't recognize. But I can't ever remember them when I wake up."

"Oh, well, maybe we can see Madame Pomfrey about it," Harry suggested.

"Not sure what she'll be able to do," Severus supposed, "I mean, everyone has bad dreams sometimes."

"Yeah, but I'm exhausted, we both need to get some serious sleep," Harry persisted. He knew Severus hated going to the infirmary. Harry felt comfortable there, though, like he had spent lots of time in it – although he knew that was an absurd feeling to have.

"Well, all right. If they don't get better by Halloween, we can go see her," Severus conceded.

The dreams didn't get better, though, and so the morning after the feast, Harry dragged a reluctant Severus to the infirmary to meet with Madame Pomfrey.

"What can I do for you boys?" she asked. "Not feeling well?"

"Actually," Harry began, glancing sideways at Severus, who was looking sulky, "We haven't been sleeping well. We're having weird dreams – nightmares, really."

"Hm," she raised her brow. "Nightmares of what, exactly?"

Harry explained as much as he could recall about his, and then stared pointedly at Severus until he begrudgingly told what he could remember about his, too. The boys grew nervous at Madame Pomfrey's silence after their recounts, and they exchanged a worried glance when she seemed to pale.

"I shall need to speak to the Headmistress," she finally said. "Wait here. Have a seat," she gestured to the chairs behind her. Unsure of what else they could do, the boys flopped down and watched her leave.

It seemed like a long time had passed, and they hoped they would get an excuse from class. Finally, Madame Pomfrey returned to the infirmary with Headmistress McGonagall. Both of them looked very grave. The boys had a sinking feeling in their guts, as if they were about to be in serious trouble. Before the ladies reached them, Harry whispered to Severus, "What's wrong, d'you reckon? Are we in trouble?"

"For nightmares?" Severus was incredulous. "I don't see how we can be."

They fell silent as the two women arrived in front of them.

"Potter," McGonagall looked at Harry. "Severus," she nodded at him. "Madame Pomfrey tells me you have been having some disturbing dreams."

The boys nodded.

"I am most particularly concerned about yours, Potter, the ones concerning the snake and sword, and the one about a giant chess board and a stone."

Harry wasn't sure if he was supposed to say anything, so he stayed silent.

"When exactly did these dreams start?"

"Erm, just after start of term," Harry said. "At least, for me they did."

"Mine too," Severus agreed.

McGonagall nodded curtly. "And you can't remember what is actually happening in these dreams?"

"No," Harry tried to explain. "It's more like floating images, like there's a fog."

"Sometimes I hear shouting," Severus added, "But I can never understand what anyone is saying."

The two ladies exchanged a glance. "I will be contacting your parents about these dreams. They may wish to address them when you arrive home for the holidays."

"You're going to write our Mum and Dad?" Harry tried to control his voice. "But we didn't do anything wrong! Why are we in trouble?"

McGonagall looked surprised. "You are not in trouble, Mr. Potter, why would you think that?"

"You're writing home," Severus said. "That only happens when someone gets in trouble."

McGonagall tried to restrain an eye roll, but was not entirely successful. "Just because that is all you are familiar with does not make it an absolute truth. Parents are written all the time and their children are not always in trouble. I am concerned by these dreams, and it would be wise for your parents to be informed so they are able to deal with them effectively when you return home."

Severus and Harry were slightly mollified. "But what about until then?" Harry asked. "How are we going to get any sleep?"

"I shall give you some Dreamless Sleep to use – but only use it when necessary – it is not wise to become dependent on it," Madame Pomfrey explained.

"Well," McGonagall said with an air of finality, "Once you have your draughts, you may head to class. I will make sure your professors are aware you have been here this morning."

A short time later, Harry and Severus made their way to Charms, each with a large vial of potion in their robes.

Harry and Severus realized that their parents were, in fact, disturbed by their dreams once they were home for the holidays.

"Can you remember anything else from them?" Hermione kept asking.

"No," Harry felt like they were disappointing her. "If we do, we'll tell you, though."

"I did last night," Severus piped up. "I remember a face. Not clearly, but it was a boy, and he had really, really blond hair – might have even been white. He seemed familiar."

Hermione and Ron exchanged a significant look. "All right, well, why don't you boys go play and your father and I will talk about this and see what we can do."

Harry and Severus left the sitting room but hovered just out of sight, hoping to overhear their parents' conversation.

"What do you think this means?" Hermione whispered to Ron.

"I dunno. Sounds like Harry's remembering the Chamber of Secrets from his second year, and the Sorcerer's Stone from his first. Not sure what most of Severus' means, but what'd you reckon about the face?"

"Well, I think you're right about Harry," Hermione agreed. "As for Severus," she paused, "It sounds like the person he's seeing might be…"

"Lucius," they both finished together.

"They were friends when they were in school, weren't they?" Hermione asked.

"I would assume so – I mean, how else would they have gotten so close as adults?"

"What are we going to do? They weren't supposed to remember anything! Why are these memories just surfacing now? Maybe it has something to do with surroundings? Maybe Hogwarts is triggering them?" Hermione felt like she was grasping at straws. It made her very uncomfortable to not know what was going on.

"Well, the dreams are terrifying them. Maybe we should just explain what they're remembering. If they realize what they're seeing, maybe it won't scare them so much."

"I'd hoped we'd never have to make Harry relive that," Hermione lamented.

"Well, I don't think we have much of a choice," Ron said.

"No, I suppose not," Hermione acquiesced.

"What about Severus, though? We don't really know what he's remembering. What are we supposed to tell him?" Ron was concerned.

"Well, I guess we're honest with him. We tell him we don't really know much about his childhood, so whatever he's remembering, it shouldn't scare him – he's just remembering things that have already happened. He mentioned the shouting, though, that might be from his mum and dad fighting. Do you think we should tell him that?"

Ron considered it. "I think the more honest we are, the better."

"Oh, I had really hoped we would never have to do this," Hermione was so distraught.

"Yeah, but when we took them in, we knew we might," Ron reminded her.

"Should we tell them other things? You know, about how they felt about each other?"

"Well, I suppose we don't have to let them know anything unless they remember it themselves. If we tell them to come to us when we remember things, then we won't have to tell them any more than they ask us."

"I suppose that will work," Hermione didn't sound convinced.

"Do you want to tell them now?" Ron asked.

"The sooner we talk to them, the sooner they might start sleeping better," Hermione suggested.

"Right," Ron concluded. "Boys?" he called. Severus and Harry waited a moment to make it seem like they were further away than they actually were.

"Yeah, Dad?" Harry asked as they walked back into the sitting room.

"Have a seat," he gestured to the couch and dragged the armchair over for himself and conjured one for Hermione. "We have some things we have to talk about."

It wasn't as bad as Harry and Severus had feared. In fact, it did make them feel better, knowing it was just things from their past that they were remembering. They also were happy to learn a little more about themselves in the process, and were relieved that they could actually ask questions if they started remembering more events. Severus was a bit disappointed that his parents couldn't tell him more, but it did relax him to know that he wasn't suffering from some delusional illness. And the talk did work; the boys started sleeping better immediately, only waking up when their dreams included new details, which they asked their parents about in the morning.

The rest of the year was much more manageable, now that they were sleeping better. They weren't pleased with all the changes they were undergoing – hair everywhere, pimples, the cracking voices – they hoped it would pass sooner rather than later. _At least we're going through it together_, they both thought frequently.

By the time they arrived home for summer, their voices, at least, had settled.

"Goodness," Hermione said as they left the train station, "We're going to have to get you new robes – you've both grown nearly a foot this year!"

"Brilliant!" Harry and Severus exclaimed together.

One morning not too far into the summer holidays, Harry awoke again, finding himself the owner of another morning erection. Rather than go to the loo immediately to make it go away, he decided to experiment with it a bit. He poked it gently through his pants to see if it hurt to touch. He was surprised that it didn't hurt at all; in fact, when it bobbed from the touch and rubbed against his pants, it actually felt quite good. He wondered if it would feel as good if he rubbed it instead of poked it, and he stuck his hands down his pajamas to try. He was immediately filled with an overwhelming sensation at the first stroke of his finger. He gasped as a streak of heat flashed through his body. He felt something in his brain take over and he wrapped his hand around himself and began to pull, gently at first, but then soon he couldn't stop himself from going harder and faster. He turned his face into his pillow and bit down to stop himself from crying out. His whole body tensed and shook violently as he felt warm liquid spurting out onto his hand inside his pants. His heart was pounding and he gasped for breath. He decided quickly, as he lay on his bed, he was never going to the loo first again.

A few days later, when the scenario had repeated itself twice, he decided to have a conversation about this with Severus, to see if he had realized what could be done about the morning 'situation', as he called it. They were flying around outside, Severus helping Harry practice for Quidditch, when Harry indicated he wanted a break. The boys got off their brooms and flopped down onto the grass.

"Hey, Severus," Harry began; he felt like he should be embarrassed, but found that discussing this with Severus wasn't at all awkward as it had been with his Dad.

"Hmm?" Severus turned to look at Harry.

"You know that thing that happens in the morning? When you wake up hard?"

"Yeah," Severus answered.

"Well, have you ever done anything to it before you go to the loo?"

"Done anything to it?" Severus sat up. "What d'you mean?"

"You know, have you ever touched it?"

"Oh," Severus said with understanding. "Yeah. You?"

"Yeah. Wasn't sure if you'd ever done it."

"I think everybody does it. All the boys in my dorm do it. I hear them in the mornings and at night. Some of them are pretty noisy." Severus seemed annoyed.

"Oh," Harry said with a dawning look, "So that's what they're doing." He felt a bit stupid for taking so long to figure it out.

Severus snickered. Harry smacked him on the arm, smiling. "Want to have another go at the Snitch?" Severus asked, getting up and retrieving his broom. Harry nodded, and they resumed their play.


	3. Chapter 3

_Mature content - adoptive incest, slash - read with discretion_

**Chapter 3**

All the third years were excited, as this was the year they could finally go to Hogsmeade. Severus and Harry turned in their forms on the first day of the term, and couldn't wait to visit the village together the weekend before Halloween. As the weekend drew nearer, Harry was taken aback when he was approached by one of his friends from his House.

"Harry," Sarah said, "You're going to Hogsmeade this weekend, right?"

"Course," Harry confirmed.

"Are you going alone?"

"Naw, I'm going with Severus," Harry replied.

"No, I mean, are you going with a girl?" Sarah asked pointedly.

"Oh, no, why?"

"Well, I thought maybe you'd want to go with me? You know, we could get something to eat at the Three Broomsticks, maybe go for a walk together."

Harry was struck dumb. "Are you…are you asking me out?" He finally managed to get out.

"Yeah," she said forwardly. "I was hoping you'd ask me, I mean, we've been in classes together now for a while, and I really fancy you, and I thought maybe you'd like to see if you feel that way about me, too."

"Oh," Harry was still unsure of what to say. "Well, I…uh, I do like you, but I'm not sure I want to, you know, go _out_ with you."

Sarah was not deterred. "Well, maybe if we spent some time alone together in Hogsmeade, you'd know if you want to go out with me or not."

"Maybe," Harry said. "Let me think about it. I promised Severus I'd spend the day with him, and I don't know if he'd be ok if I just left him alone."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "I'm sure he's got his own friends. Besides, he's your brother, you see him all the time at home – you can spend time with your other friends during the year, you know."

Harry felt it best not to mention to her that he didn't really feel the need to do that – Severus was his best friend, and who wouldn't want to spend all their time with their best friend? But maybe Severus did have friends he wanted to spend time with – Harry decided to ask him and tried to ignore the sinking feeling he was getting thinking about Severus potentially finding a new best friend.

"Right, well, I'll ask him and let you know."

Sarah nodded and then flounced out of the common room. Harry followed soon after to meet Severus in the library to go over some Potions homework.

"Hey," Harry whispered as he sat down next to Severus.

"Hey," Severus broke into a grin. "How're you?"

"All right. Listen," Harry began, "You know how we're going to Hogsmeade next weekend?" Severus nodded. "Well, this girl who's a friend of mine, Sarah, she wanted to know if I would go with her instead."

"Like, on a date or something?" Severus twisted his mouth up in a grimace.

"Yeah, I guess. She told me she fancied me and wanted to see if I felt the same way."

"Well," prompted Severus, "Do you?"

"I'm not really sure," Harry admitted. "I mean, I like her all right, she's fun to talk to and such, but I'm not sure I really feel that way about her. Not that she's not good looking, but there's just, I dunno, something missing."

Severus looked thoughtful. "Well, do you want to go with her to find out?"

"I didn't want to leave you alone when I'd promised you I'd go with you. I told her I had to talk with you about it."

"Oh, well, you don't have to do that; I'll be all right by myself."

"Don't you have, you know, someone you can go with? Some friends from your House?" Harry hoped Severus wasn't completely isolated.

Severus shrugged. "I suppose. I'm not really that friendly with anyone. Slytherin doesn't really…work that way. Everyone sort of just keeps to themselves. Since I'm such good friends with you, no one really bothered to get to know me."

"I'm sorry," Harry hung his head.

"Why?" Severus said a little too loudly with surprise.

"I don't want to keep you from having friends," Harry told him.

"But you're not!" Severus assured him. "I don't really want to be friends with any of them – I like being friends with you!"

Harry smiled.

"Well, I'll tell Sarah that you and I are going together, then. If she wants to, do you mind if she comes along?"

"Of course not. She's nice." Severus knew her from their classes.

Harry resolved to talk to her over dinner.

"Go with you? With you and Severus?" Sarah was incredulous.

"Yeah," Harry said, perplexed at why Sarah seemed to be getting irritated.

"No," she said heatedly, "I want to go with _you_. Just you. I don't want your brother tagging along. If you don't want to go with me, then fine. But don't ask me to come along as some…some third wheel."

Harry shrugged as she stood up and stomped out of the hall. He wasn't too concerned with Sarah's outburst. She argued with everyone – he knew she'd calm down later.

Hogsmeade was incredible, and Harry and Severus enjoyed it together. The rest of the term was successful as well, and before they knew it, they were on the train home for Christmas holidays. That first night home, they lay in their bunks, staring at the ceiling.

"Harry," Severus said in the dark.

"Yeah?" Harry answered.

"I can't sleep."

"Me neither."

"Can I come down there?"

"Sure," and Harry moved over to the wall to let Severus in next to him. They were both a bit bigger than they had been over the summer, the last time they'd shared a bed to stave off sleeplessness, so their bodies touched no matter what position they were in. It didn't bother either of them, though, and they settled into their familiar position: Severus curled around Harry's back, his arm thrown over Harry's waist. "Missed you," Harry said to the wall.

"Missed you, too," Severus said into Harry's back. In just minutes, both boys were snoring softly.

The first thing Harry became aware of when he woke the next morning was his erection. _Crap_! He thought. Severus was still asleep so he couldn't get out to go to the loo, and Severus being there meant he couldn't take care of it the other way, either. Severus shifted slightly behind him and Harry suddenly became aware of a second thing – Severus had an erection as well, and it was pressed tightly up against Harry's back. Harry's stomach did a flip flop. He lay there for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do. He hoped that if he left his alone, it would go away. He eventually realized this was not going to happen, however. He finally decided that he could do what he needed to do without waking Severus – he was pretty good at doing it now without waking up his dorm mates. He reached down, careful to avoid Severus' arm, and began stroking himself – lightly at first, but then harder as the fire built in his groin. Before he knew it, his hips began rocking involuntarily, and he tried to stop, afraid he would wake Severus, but he couldn't – he was too far gone. He suddenly felt Severus' arm tighten around him and Severus' body begin shifting behind him in a rhythm, pressing his own erection tightly into Harry's back. Harry bit his fist to keep from crying out as he came all over his hand. As his body jerked in the aftermath, he heard a soft groan escape from Severus and suddenly felt a pulsing behind him, followed by a wet spot on his t-shirt. Both boys froze.

"Um, sorry," Severus said, his voice cracking with sleep. He moved as far away from Harry as he could without falling off the bed.

"Why? _I_ woke _you_ up," Harry explained.

"You did?" Severus was curious – all he remembered was waking up rocking against Harry as he exploded in ecstasy.

"Yeah, I was…well, I was taking care of mine but I was moving too much and then I woke you up."

"Oh, I didn't notice you doing anything."

"Well, it's no big deal," Harry decided, relieved that Severus wasn't upset. He supposed he should be embarrassed, but for some reason, he didn't feel that way. "Let's go shower."

The family enjoyed the Christmas holidays at the Burrow, all the family getting together to celebrate. It was over much too soon and Harry and Severus were back at Hogwarts to finish their third year.

When the weather was finally nice enough, Harry and Severus tried to spend most of their studying time outside. One day, Harry suggested they walk around the lake and Severus agreed. It was getting quite hot and both boys took off their robes and sat down on the grass, spreading out their books and getting down to the business of studying for final exams. Eventually, though, they got sidetracked with conversations about anything but school. Harry found his head lying on Severus' lap, staring at the sky as Severus played with Harry's unruly hair, gazing out at the lake. They talked like that for a while, only realizing the need to go back inside for dinner once the sun started to set.

Harry and Severus never stopped wishing they had been sorted into the same House, and as such, they looked forward to their holidays for more reasons than just escaping school. Besides, this year had been even more difficult than the previous years because they had started new classes. They had wanted to take Divination, but Ron and Hermione had steadfastly refused, saying the class was "a load of rubbish" and that it would never give them skills they needed for later in life. Instead, both boys had settled on adding Runes and Arithmancy to their curriculum. Severus didn't seem to have a problem with Runes, but Harry struggled with the class and neither boy could seem to find his footing in Arithmancy. They were at a loss as to why these classes seemed so difficult when everything else had come so easily to them. When their marks arrived over the summer, their parents asked why these two classes were so much lower than the others – Harry managing only an 'A' in Runes (Severus at least earned an 'E') and both of them relieved to have received an 'A' in Arithmancy.

"Well," Hermione thought for a while, looking over their reports, "Well, I suppose it might be…I don't know, that would be a bit strange, but it would make sense…"

"I love it when you make yourself clear," Ron rolled his eyes.

"Sorry," Hermione seemed to come to her senses. "It's just, all the classes they've had so far they took before, but for Harry, Runes and Arithmancy are completely new – and apparently Arithmancy is for Severus. It doesn't surprise me that he took Runes before, actually. They don't have any subconscious knowledge to help them – they really are learning it for the first time. Maybe that's why they're struggling."

"You're right," Ron agreed, "That does make sense."

"Well, boys, that just means you're going to actually have to work at these over the next two years if you're going to pass your OWLS," Hermione said seriously. Both boys groaned and exchanged a look. "It won't kill you, you know, to do some real work," she rolled her eyes. "Besides, I took Arithmancy and Runes – if you need help, just let me know." Harry and Severus looked at each other and their expressions clearly said that they would not be taking their mother up on that offer.

They did work much harder over the summer, though, on their assignments, and after some vain protests from the boys, Hermione got her hands on them and approved their work.

Harry and Severus turned 14 and the summer was winding down. August was unusually hot that year, and while they would have normally spent quite a bit of time outside flying around practicing Quidditch, they opted to remain indoors, playing games that required very little movement, or reading (Severus, anyway – Harry didn't much care for reading. When he declared this to his mother after she asked him why he didn't have his nose in a book like Severus, she snorted and muttered something about him never having read "before," either.).

Severus and Harry so routinely slept in the same bed that they didn't even ask each other anymore if it was all right. Whenever Severus couldn't sleep, he would make his way down to Harry's bunk and slide under the sheets, curling under Harry's arm into his shoulder or wrapping himself around Harry's back. He didn't know why he seemed to have such problems sleeping, but being with Harry usually quelled them. The incident from earlier in the summer hadn't repeated itself until just about a week before school. Harry woke up with an erection and felt Severus' own pressing into his back. He wriggled away from Severus' grasp and settled on his back. His movement woke Severus up, and Severus stretched, arching his back and ending in the same position as Harry. Both boys stared at the underside of the top bunk.

"Hey, Severus," Harry began.

"Yeah?" Severus asked, still staring straight up.

"Have you ever wondered, you know, how it would feel if someone else touched it?"

"What do you mean?" Severus finally looked over at Harry.

"Well, it feels incredible when I do it to myself, it seems like it would be pretty amazing if someone else touched it, too."

"I suppose," Severus surmised. "You wanna try?"

"With me?" Harry was surprised.

"Yeah, why not?" Severus raised himself onto his elbow. "I mean, I'd rather try it out with you than some random person – that way if it doesn't go well, it's not, you know, so embarrassing."

"You're probably right," Harry looked away from Severus and back up to the underside of the bunk. "Wanna do it now?"

"Sure. Want me to try it on you first, or do you want to do it to each other at the same time?"

"Same time, I guess. We can always stop if it isn't as good as doing it alone."

"All right, then," Severus flopped back onto his back. He shimmied his pajama pants down to his upper thighs, and Harry followed suit. Severus realized that he probably should feel a bit awkward, but nothing ever felt that way when he was with Harry. He reached over and gently took Harry in his hand. Harry let out a loud moan as he felt a throb of desire flash through him. "Quiet! You'll wake the whole house!" Severus whispered. Then, Harry reached over and grasped Severus, who immediately let out a similar noise. "Oops, guess I see where you're coming from," he said with a giggle.

They both began moving their hands tentatively, using short, light strokes. Soon, however, their bodies took over and they began moving harder and faster, hips bucking up to meet the opposite boy's hand. Harry came first, pressing his fist against his mouth to muffle his scream of ecstasy. At the feel of Harry's wetness pouring over his hand, Severus contracted and spilled all over Harry, stifling the groan in the back of his throat. When both boys had caught their breath, they opened their eyes and stared straight up at the top bunk.

"Woah," Harry let out in a whoosh of air.

"Yeah," Severus agreed. "Woah."

Harry brought his own hand back to his side of the bed and Severus copied him. "I don't want to ever go back to doing myself again," Harry said with a smile, turning his face to Severus.

"Me either," Severus agreed. Then he frowned, "This year is going to be awful, worse than before, not being with you. I don't fancy having any of the other blokes in my dorm do that with me."

Harry grimaced, "Me either."

"What about Sarah?" Severus asked. "She fancies you – do you think she'd do it?"

Harry shuddered, "I don't really fancy her messing about down there – don't really like the idea of any girl doing it, for that matter."

"Yeah, me neither," Severus agreed. "Just feels right with you." Harry nodded his assent.

"Well, let's go get cleaned up," Harry said, and both boys rolled out of the bed to get on with their day.


	4. Chapter 4

_Mature content - adoptive incest, slash, chan - read with discretion_

**Chapter 4**

Severus had been right. The fall term was torture for both boys; their hearts practically ached each night when they went to bed, and during the day when they had separate classes. They did get to spend time together studying and completing homework, but it wasn't the same intimacy they had grown to expect or need. Their first night home during Christmas break had been frantic – Severus never even went up to his bunk but climbed right in next to Harry, and seeing his own need reflected in Harry, pushed down his pajama pants and they both gave each other the repletion that had been lacking the entire term. So intense was the pleasure from this time – after such a long absence – that at the end, they both turned to look into each other's eyes, seeking peace and contentment. As he gazed into the black depths of Severus' eyes in the dark, Harry was suddenly overcome with a strange compulsion. He didn't know where it came from, but he was powerless against it. He leaned onto his side and brought his far hand up to stroke Severus' cheek. He closed the remaining gap between them and softly put his lips on Severus'. Severus made a noise of surprise and Harry pulled away.

"Sorry," Harry said guiltily, "don't know why I did that."

"No," Severus hastily assured him, "I don't mind – it was just, unexpected. But I wanted to – you know – kiss you, too."

"Really?" Harry smiled a pleased smile.

"Yeah," Severus said, "It just felt right." Harry nodded back at him, his features obscured by the dark. As if drawn by a magnet, both boys drew closer to each other, Severus turning on his side to face Harry. His hand moved up to cup Harry's cheek and Harry's hand snaked around behind Severus' neck, fingers twining in the short, black hair. They closed the distance between them and their lips joined, more forcefully than before, with determination. Their bodies melted into each other and they pressed their chests together as their legs intertwined. When Harry's lips parted to suck in a quick breath, Severus slipped his tongue between them, entering Harry's mouth. As soon as their tongues touched, they felt a jolt of electricity flow between them, stronger than anything they had ever known. Immediately, Harry's mind was filled with a crystal clear vision, more intense than anything that had filled his dreams. He saw himself with Severus, but he and Severus were much older, and Severus had longer hair. They were in bed, but it was a different, larger bed. They were still kissing, but it was part of a larger scene – Harry was aware that both he and Severus were naked in this vision, that their actions were not something new and fresh, but practiced and comfortable, yet still alive with passion. Harry suddenly realized it was a memory. It only lasted for a brief second, but it rocked Harry and he broke himself away from Severus, blinking wildly.

"What's wrong?" Severus asked, breathless.

"I just…saw something, I remembered…did you see it, too?"

Severus' eyes glinted with excitement in the dark. "Us? Together? But you were older."

"You were older, too," Harry added.

"It must have been from before – we must have been…I don't know…together," Severus tried to wrap his head around the overwhelming sensations brought on by the kiss and the memory together.

"Severus, do you, you know, do you like girls?" Harry asked with a touch of shyness.

"Not really," Severus admitted. "You?"

"No. You're the only one I think about, that I really care about."

"Do you," Severus paused, mulling over the words in his mouth, "Do you think we're…gay?"

"I hadn't really thought about it, but, I suppose we must be. I mean, the thought of kissing a girl kind of makes me nauseous, but with you, it feels so…so right," Harry was emphatic.

"So it doesn't bother you?" Severus questioned.

"No, does it bother you?" Harry asked with a touch of disappointment.

"No, not really. It just sort of…is."

Harry nodded, understanding completely. He suggested they make a trip to the loo to clean up, and then they came back to the bedroom. Harry climbed into his bunk and scooted over to the far side, holding up the covers for Severus to climb in beside him. Harry raised his arm and Severus nestled his head into Harry's shoulder. Harry brought his hand around to Severus' arm and stroked it lightly until both boys drifted off into sleep.

With this revelation of their newly identified sexuality, Harry and Severus began to see their male house mates in a different light. What they both concluded was that while there were certainly some attractive boys in the population at Hogwarts, neither one of them found anyone who held even one-tenth of the attraction that they did for each other. They found this so amusing, in fact, that by the time the second term ended, they had created a comprehensive list of all the boys in their year for all four houses and ranked them according to different traits. Their discussion about which were "good" or "bad" had them rolling with laughter more often than not and brought about a development of nicknames for many of the boys who had distinctive features.

Finally, they were back home for summer and had more homework than ever to prepare for OWL year. When the letters came for school in mid-August, there was a surprise in Severus' envelope.

"What's this?" he asked as a heavy badge fell out of the envelope.

"Oh!" Hermione flushed with excitement, "It's a prefect badge! I can't believe it! Ron!" she called out, and he came bounding down the stairs.

"What?" his eyes darted around, looking for the emergency.

"Severus's been made a prefect! Can you believe it?" Hermione made her way over to Severus and wrapped him in a close embrace. He scowled and tried to worm away.

"No," Ron snorted, thinking how bizarre it was that Snape would be back in charge of taking house points. "Hope he's better than Malfoy was," Ron continued, but stopped when he received a glare from Hermione.

The rest of the day was spent fawning over Severus' appointment. Harry was genuinely happy for Severus, but felt a bit disappointed in himself for not being made a prefect. He was cheered, though, when Ron pulled him aside right before bedtime.

"Harry," he began, pulling Harry onto the couch next to him. "You seem upset. What's up?"

"I...I just wish I had been made prefect, too. I mean, I'm super happy for Severus," he clarified hastily, "But, it would have been brilliant if we could have been prefects together."

"Hey, don't worry about it so much – you weren't a prefect before, either, and it never bothered you. Well, maybe it did at first, but you were so busy with…with other stuff, that it didn't matter after a while. In fact, I was a prefect, and I wish I hadn't been."

"You were a prefect?" Harry was incredulous – his dad didn't seem like the type.

"Yeah, shocked me too when I first found out. Your mum was, too. Fit her a bit better," he grinned slyly. Harry joined in with a smirk of his own.

"So you're not…disappointed in me?" Harry asked hopefully.

"'Course not!" Ron assured him with a squeeze on the shoulder. "You do plenty to make us proud – Quidditch genius – of course, that makes sense – you were pretty brilliant at that before, too, great marks, and you don't cause near as much trouble as you did…before. The three of us got into loads of trouble – mostly you and me. Had more detentions than I can remember," Ron smiled, getting lost in his reminiscence. Harry drank in every word. He knew that in his previous life he'd been best friends with his parents, but he'd never heard them talk about their time together. It made him feel warm and happy inside. Ron snapped back to reality. "Well, anyway, don't worry yourself about the prefect thing, got it?"

Harry nodded and smiled – and he did feel better. With that, his father urged him upstairs to bed, reminding him that they were to go to Diagon Alley the next day to get school supplies. Harry trudged up and got ready for bed, seeing Severus at their desk near the window, putting some finishing touches on an essay.

"Hey, Severus, well done, mate – on the prefect thing. You'll be great at it," Harry said to him as he climbed into bed. Severus closed the ink well and put down his quill before blowing out the candles and making his way to bed. Harry moved over and lifted the covers, inviting Severus in next to him.

"You're not mad?" Severus asked warily, climbing in next to him.

"Course not," Harry said with a smile. "It'll be great – plus, now you can take points from those Hufflepuffs whenever they're prats."

Severus chuckled and shifted closer to Harry, rolling to his side. "Good, I was worried you'd be upset with me."

"Don't be daft. You didn't make _yourself_ prefect – plus, Dad said I wasn't prefect before, anyway, so I'm not really that fussed about it."

"Thanks," Severus said with a smile, and pulled himself up over Harry and planted a kiss on his lips.

Severus intended for the kiss to be quick and tried to pull away, but Harry wrapped his arms around Severus' waist and pulled him in for another kiss, this one deeper and more passionate. Severus lowered himself on top of Harry and melted into their kiss, flickering his tongue in and out of Harry's mouth. The groan that movement elicited from Harry sent a jolt straight to Severus' groin and he felt himself tightening against Harry's leg. Their mouths opened and soon their tongues were caressing each other, their breath quickening. Severus shifted so one of his legs moved in between both of Harry's, and their hips brushed together, each able to feel the other's desire through the light, cotton pajama pants. Harry threw his head back against the pillow and Severus moved his mouth from Harry's to trail kisses down his jaw and neck, finishing on Harry's collar bone. Harry's hips rose up off the bed and Severus ground his down, pushing Harry back onto the bed. Before they knew it, they were moving together in unison, hands groping everywhere they could find purchase: Harry's fingers digging into Severus' back and Severus' moving between Harry's shoulders and back of his head. Harry felt a burning, tightening sensation in his stomach as his pulse sped with need. Severus panted as each grinding of their hips together sent a wave of pleasure through him – different from when they were just using their hands. The pressure was different, and the angle and the movement. Both boys were soon pleading with each other, whispering the other's name in the dark between nips, licks, and soft bites. With a final thrust, both boys cried out into each other's mouths as they kissed, their liquid pleasure pulsing between them, creating wet spots on their respective pants. When they had finished convulsing, Severus pulled his head up away from Harry.

"Wow," he breathed, his eyes searching Harry's for confirmation of the pleasure.

"Yeah," Harry gazed back at him, eyes glazed. "Wow."

Severus moved off of Harry and snuggled his head into Harry's shoulder. Their limbs moved to entanglement that suggested years of familiarity and comfort, and forgetting they needed to clean themselves up, both boys drifted to sleep, sated.


	5. Chapter 5

_Mature content - adoptive incest, slash, chan - read with discretion_

**Chapter 5**

When Harry and Severus went back to school, they became desperate, frenzied in their need to satisfy their compulsion for intimacy. They would find short bursts of time behind tapestries, in deserted classrooms, but it never seemed to be enough. Rather than heighten the experience, the fear of exposure prevented them from focusing on each other and their closeness. Both boys found themselves longing with tangible pain for the holidays when they could have the sanctity of their bedroom to just "be" together.

Their first night back together over the holidays was frantic and dizzying in its intensity. The pace bordered on chaotic, and it was over too soon for either boy. Subsequent nights, however, returned them to their previous enjoyment, and one of the final nights of the Christmas holiday, Severus suggested something to Harry before they began their nightly ritual.

"Harry," Severus began, "I was wondering if you'd let me try something."

"What's that?" Harry asked

"Well, it's something I heard from a girl in my house – Amelia, you know, the brunette?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, she said that she did something with her boyfriend, and he seemed to really like it, and I thought maybe we could see if it's any good."

Harry shrugged, "Sure. What is it?"

Severus paused, "Well, I'm not quite sure what to call it, but…instead of using our hands, I use…well, she said she used her mouth."

"Your mouth?" Harry wasn't sure if he was intrigued or a little disgusted. "Won't it taste awful?"

"That's what I thought, but she said it wasn't so bad for her. If it's really terrible, I can always stop."

"I suppose," Harry agreed. "You want to do it now?"

"Sure. You ready?"

"Mmm, maybe you should kiss me first – that always does it for me," Harry smiled in the dark – his teeth flashed, even with the dim light. Severus leaned over on top of Harry and captured his mouth. Severus ran his tongue gently over Harry's lips, the way he had learned Harry liked it. He felt Harry sigh into him. Harry's sighs always went straight to his prick. It didn't take long before both of them were aching with need.

"Take your pants off," Severus breathed, "I don't want them to get in the way." Harry acquiesced and shoved his pants down, kicking them off to the end of the bed. He spread his legs out a bit as Severus settled between them and made his way down Harry's chest, kissing gently. Harry mewled as Severus' chest glided along his erect cock, the skin-on-skin contact intensifying the sensations. "You're gonna have to be quiet," Severus whispered, grinning. Harry brought his fist to his mouth, readying himself to bite on his knuckles to assure his silence. "All right," Severus said as he arrived at Harry's crotch, "you've got to let me know if you don't like it, okay?" Harry nodded.

Severus bent his head down and gingerly closed his mouth around the head of Harry's cock. The severe feeling of the heat and the wetness shot through Harry so strongly he was nearly in pain, and he was unable to contain a groan that rose up in his throat. He realized his fist wasn't going to cut it, and he pulled the pillow over his head instead to muffle his noises. Severus looked up, letting Harry out of his mouth. "All right?" Severus was concerned at Harry's groan. Harry lifted the pillow and looked at Severus, "For me, how 'bout you?" he hoped with all his might that Severus wanted to continue.

"Not too bad yet," Severus grinned, and bent his head back to Harry's groin. He closed his mouth around Harry's head again, and thought about whether or not he was enjoying what he was doing. The first thing he had noticed was the smell. He couldn't describe it, really, but he liked it. The taste was another pleasant surprise. Harry's head was a soft, spongy texture and tasted a bit salty. Severus decided that he quite enjoyed it. He moved further down Harry's shaft, taking more of him into his mouth.

"Oh God," Harry cried from under his pillow, bucking his hips up into Severus. He had never thought he could feel more pleasure than what he and Severus had done before, but he realized he was wrong. So very, very wrong. Harry couldn't even think straight, the nerve endings in his cock were firing to every point on his body. Every inch of him was moving without thought, slave to the rush of pleasure spiraling through him.

Severus had been concerned that he wouldn't really know what to do and that Harry wouldn't like it. As he moved his mouth further down on Harry, however, he realized that he had a feeling of familiarity – like he had done this some time before. He had these feelings often enough at other times to know he could trust them, so he let his instincts take over. Soon, he had taken Harry all the way in his mouth and was moving his tongue up and down the shaft along the thick vein on the underside. He could hear Harry's cries of pleasure, muted by the pillow, and he started just a bit when Harry's free hand made it into his hair, pushing and pulling frantically. Severus swallowed around Harry's cock, and that apparently was enough to send Harry over the edge. His entire body arched off the bed and he exploded in Severus' mouth. Even beneath the pillow, he heard Harry cry out his name. Unaware that he was doing so, Severus swallowed again and again until Harry relaxed back onto the bed. Severus smiled around Harry's cock and let him slide out of his mouth.

"Like it?" Severus teased as he crawled back up to Harry's face. Harry had removed the pillow, but his eyes were still closed and he was breathing unevenly. "I mean," Severus trailed his hand up Harry's stomach, "If you didn't like it, we never have to do it again." At that, Harry's eyes snapped open.

"If you don't do it again, I'm never letting you spend another night down here," he threatened.

"That good, huh?" Severus was pleased.

"Better than good," Harry assured him. "What about for you?"

"Well, I didn't stop," Severus smiled. "It wasn't bad at all, actually. Even tasted kind of nice. You've got to swallow, at the end, though, or you might choke." Harry nodded.

"Wanna trade?" Harry offered, now recovered from the experience. Severus agreed greedily, settling himself on his back and kicking off his pajama bottoms. "I'm not sure what to do," Harry admitted.

"It'll come to you," Severus assured him. "And if not, just do what I did to you. You seemed to like it enough." Harry shrugged in agreement.

Severus was already hard, so Harry didn't waste any time getting set between his legs and lowering his mouth to Severus' cock. When he took the head into his mouth, he heard Severus gasp at the head of the bed. "See," Harry looked up at him, "It's hard to stay quiet. You'd better use the pillow." Severus complied. Harry took his mouth down further, using his tongue as he had felt Severus do. He realized what Severus had meant, however, as things started popping into his head about what he should do – what he knew Severus would like. He couldn't begin to fathom how he had obtained this knowledge, but he was pleased that it was proven valid with every move he made. He made short work of Severus' arousal and as Severus grabbed Harry's hair, Severus' entire body tensed and he thrust himself into Harry's mouth, his seed spurting rhythmically into the back of Harry's throat. Harry swallowed it down as Severus had told him to, pleased that it did actually taste quite pleasant. As Severus stopped thrusting, Harry let him out of his mouth and made his way back up to the head of the bed.

"Mmm," he sighed as he rolled onto his side next to Severus. "You need to thank Amelia."

Severus chuckled. "Yeah, plus, this way's less messy."

Harry nodded. "And a million times better."

"For sure," Severus agreed.

"Think she knows any other tricks?" Harry asked.

"I can find out," Severus replied, and he pushed Harry onto his back so he could wiggle himself under Harry's arm into the crook under his shoulder. Harry wrapped his arm around Severus' waist, and they both fell asleep, dreaming of nothing that night.

But the dreams couldn't stay away forever, and once they were back at Hogwarts, they began to actually remember bits and pieces and string things together. Harry was distraught over the dreams he'd been having lately, only he thought of them as nightmares. He was so upset by them that he didn't even want to talk about them with Severus. He realized it was the first time he'd ever had such reservations. The most recent one was of him and a much older Severus together in a classroom together – he had recognized it as the Potions room. They were alone, and it looked like they were dueling or something like that. What had disturbed Harry, however, was the rage he had felt in the memory – rage at Severus. Even worse was the way Severus had acted: screaming at Harry all sorts of horrible things, things Harry couldn't imagine Severus ever uttering at anyone, especially Harry. He'd been having dreams like this a lot lately, dreams where it seemed like he and this older Severus were anything _but_ best friends. He hated it. He always woke up feeling sick, and like he needed a long shower to wash away the bad images. He was becoming distracted when they were together, the memories flooding his mind at inopportune times. Severus finally noticed.

"What's the matter, Harry? You've been acting awfully odd lately," Severus said with concern one afternoon as they sat by the edge of the lake working on homework.

"It's nothing," Harry shrugged off, not wanting to talk about it.

"Are you mad at me? Have I done something wrong?" Severus' voice had an edge of confusion mixed with anxiety.

"No…I, well…yes, I suppose, except…it wasn't you, not really," Harry didn't want to explain any more.

"Well, thanks for clearing that up," Severus said with sarcasm.

Harry was abashed. "Sorry, I – I just, I've been having dreams again…remembering things. About us."

Severus waited for Harry to continue.

"They haven't been…pleasant. I'm starting to get the feeling that we didn't really…like each other – before, you know." Harry paused.

"Why would you think that?" Severus asked softly.

"In the dreams, the memories, you're always screaming at me. Doing awful things, making me feel horrible. And I…all I can feel is this, this overwhelming…hate," Harry finished, and he pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes to stop the tears that were welling up.

"You hate me?" Severus whispered, distraught.

"No, I…of course I don't hate you, but I'm remembering these things and…I just don't think we were all that close. Not like we are now."

Severus laid his hand on Harry's leg and Harry dropped his hands and gave a sideways glance at Severus. He saw compassion there – and guilt. "What's wrong?" Harry asked, "Are you mad at me now?"

"No," Severus said, his thumb caressing Harry's thigh, "I just feel bad because – well, I've been having dreams too. I've remembered all sorts of things – seeing you when you were younger, being your Professor, it's so odd. And I have these feelings of…loathing, I guess. I didn't realize you were having them, too."

"I don't like remembering those feelings," Harry said, his voice cracking with emotion.

"Me either," Severus agreed, "But we know lots of stuff happened to us that we probably won't like remembering. And it doesn't really change anything – we're different people now. What happened to us before – between us, for that matter – it doesn't have to mean anything to us now."

"So, your dreams haven't – they haven't made you hate me?" Harry let a glimmer of hope creep into his voice.

"Hate you?" he swatted Harry's leg. "You think a few bad dreams would change how I feel about you now? Especially when we both know something happened to make it work out between us? I mean, I haven't just been having bad dreams…I've been remembering some…other stuff…too. Some very good stuff," a blush crept up his cheeks.

"Good point," Harry conceded, wiping the last remnants of tears from his eyes. "I want to start having those dreams, too…I hope they come soon – I wouldn't mind a few good memories."

"So things are all right now," Severus asked, "between us?"

Harry nodded and leaned over to give Severus a hug.

"All right then. Say," Severus proposed, "want to do something fun tonight?"

"What?" Harry asked, guardedly – the glint in Severus' eyes made him think there was something devious going on in Severus' mind.

"Well, one of the cool things about being a prefect," Severus revealed, "Is that we get our own bathroom."

"Really? Just for you?" Harry was jealous.

"Well, all the prefects share it, but no one goes there at night – it's not a loo, it's a bath, with a huge pool and all sorts of neat soaps and such."

"Wicked! And I can come in with you?"

"Well," Severus admitted, "non-prefects aren't supposed to use it, but like I said, it's always empty at night – that's usually when I go. No one will know. So, do you want to?"

"That sounds great," Harry agreed readily. "Where is it? What time should I meet you there?"

"Behind the Dancing Trolls tapestry on the fifth floor. Come meet me at nine – that'll give us time to get back to our rooms before curfew."

"All right," Harry said, standing up. "We should get to dinner." Severus nodded in agreement and both boys stood and made their way to the Great Hall.

Shortly before nine, Harry left the common room and made his way to the spot Severus had indicated. He was already waiting for Harry and a wide grin broke onto his face as he held back the tapestry to reveal a beautifully ornate mahogany door. Severus spoke the password and the door swung open for them, both boys walking inside. The door shut softly behind them.

"Woah," Harry exclaimed, "This is wicked!"

"Brilliant, isn't it?" Severus had already taken off his robes.

"That pool is huge!" Harry began to follow Severus' lead and began disrobing.

"Wait 'til you see the bubbles," Severus promised, and with a final movement, finished stripping off his clothes. He walked around to the back side of the pool and turned on a few taps.

"Insane!" Harry shook his head as he stepped into the pool on the opposite side from Severus. All sorts of different soaps were flowing from the taps – blue bubbles the size of quaffles, pink foam as thick as Styrofoam, and all other assortments of soap filled the pool until it was a veritable rainbow of suds. Severus turned off the taps and slid himself into the water.

"Are any of them shampoo?" Harry asked, running his fingers through the layer of soap across the water.

"You can use any of them for just about anything – they'll clean you up pretty well."

"Yeah, well, I clean up well – if I do say so myself," Harry smirked.

"I completely agree," Severus said slyly and made his way over to Harry, who dunked his head in the water and then scrubbed his hair with the soap that he had come up with. Severus followed suit and in just a few moments, they were both done bathing themselves.

"Wanna get out?" Harry asked.

"Naw, we've got some time before curfew still," Severus said sidling closer to Harry. Harry waded over to the side of the pool and found a ledge running along the wall. He sat down on it.

"All right, I won't object to staying here a bit longer. The view is pretty spectacular," he grinned at Severus.

Severus smiled back at Harry mischievously and glided over to the ledge in front of Harry. Slowly, he climbed on top of Harry's lap and straddled him, wrapping his arms around Harry's neck. Harry joined his hands around Severus' back and pulled him closer, pressing their lips together into a serious kiss. Instead of the bitter taste of soap, however, he was pleasantly surprised that the remnants of the bubbles tasted quite as good as they had looked. Their tongues slipped and slid all over each other – in the mouth and out; they felt the tightening as they hardened. Soon, their cocks were touching each other under the water and they gasped as Severus pushed himself closer to Harry and began grinding their hips together. Harry released one hand from behind Severus' back and reached down to take them both beneath the surface. Severus threw back his head at the contact and Harry sucked greedily at the available flesh on his neck and collarbone. Abruptly, their Nirvana was destroyed.

"Hey!"

Severus and Harry jumped apart instantly, letting out matching shrieks of terror.

"What do you think you're doing in here?" The Head Boy had come into the bath and made his way over to the edge of the pool. "And _you're_ not even a prefect," he looked at Harry and pointed accusingly.

Harry felt his dinner threatening to come up from his stomach. He exchanged a glance with Severus and it was clear that the feeling was mutual.

"Both of you get out of there this instant and come with me – we're going to see the Headmistress." He folded his arms across his chest.

Severus and Harry didn't move a muscle.

"Now!" he commanded.

"Could you…maybe give us a moment to get dressed? Privately?" Severus asked politely.

"After what I just saw?" the Head Boy asked, incredulous. "Not likely."

Harry's stomach was doing flip flops. If he wasn't afraid of being given a month's worth of detentions – or being expelled, he might have been nervous about the Head Boy seeing him naked. As it was, the only thing he could think of was how much trouble they were both in. His shaking body had little to do with being cold and everything to do with the horror that was spreading from the top of his head to the tips of his toes.

Once the boys were dried and clothed, they followed the Head Boy dutifully through the castle to the Headmistress' office. He said the password and the stone gargoyle began to rotate, revealing a stone staircase they all stepped on and rode to the top. "Wait here," the Head Boy commanded as he knocked.

"Enter," they heard from behind the door. The Head Boy twisted the knob and stepped inside.

"Don't move," he said stonily before shutting the door behind him.

Harry and Severus were so overcome with unadulterated fear that they couldn't find their voices to say anything to each other. They couldn't even manage to lift their eyes off the floor. It was several minutes, but it felt like an eternity before the Head Boy returned and ordered the boys inside. Once they had entered, he gave them a severe stare, and then turned on his heel and left the office. The sound of the door closing behind him gave Harry and Severus the foreboding feeling they had just entered Azkaban.

"Boys," Professor McGonagall said from behind her desk. "Sit down." Harry and Severus made their way to the chairs in front of the Headmistress' desk and lowered themselves into the seats, hearts pounding.

"Is that Severus? My word! And Harry! My dear boys, what an unexpected pleasure!" Harry and Severus snapped their heads up to a portrait hanging directly above McGonagall. An old wizard with twinkling blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles stared back at them with a most inviting smile.

"Sir?" Harry managed to croak out, "How…how do you know who we are?"

"Why, my boy, I was headmaster here the last time you were a student."

"Really, Albus, is now the appropriate time?" Minerva was exasperated. She knew once Albus got going, it was difficult to reign him in.

"I don't see why not," he said happily. "How have you been, gentlemen? I have heard tales of what happened to you in the battle – I did so hope I would get to see you before you were all grown up again." He looked wistfully at the two young boys. "But you are already so very grown; I regret to have missed much of your youth."

Harry and Severus stayed silent, unsure of what to say.

"Are you well, my boys?" the man in the portrait asked.

Harry and Severus nodded.

"How are you finding this new adventure? Being young again?"

"Erm," Severus struggled, "it's all right, I suppose."

"Do you remember much of your lives before you were cursed?" the man seemed genuinely interested.

"We didn't used to," Harry answered, "but lately, we've been remembering lots of things."

"Mmm," Albus mused.

"Please, sir," Harry began politely, "if you were Headmaster when I was here…before…what happened to you? Why are you not here now?"

"Well," Albus said, leaning back in his chair, "I would have thought that much was obvious. I am dead."

Harry flushed. "Well, I know that, sir. What I meant was, what happened?"

"You don't remember?" Albus sat forward sharply. Harry shook his head. "Nor you, Severus?" Severus shook his, too. "Ah, well, I suppose I shall have to tell you – if you remember things out of order it might be quite detrimental."

"Albus, really – I have a serious situation I must discuss with these gentlemen," Minerva voiced her impatience.

"And you shall be able to – but this, too, is important." Minerva pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing in defeat. "Well, Harry, as to what happened to me, it is quite simple. Severus killed me."

"What?" both boys shouted in disbelief.

"Yes, yes, it's true. I was careless and got myself hurt, and to ease my suffering I persuaded Severus to put me out of my misery. You were very accommodating," he inclined his head toward the black-haired youth, whose eyes were wider than a house elf's.

"I…I killed someone?" Severus whispered, his voice barely audible.

"Well, as you remember more and more, you'll realize that you killed several people. But you'll also remember why you did it and you'll come to understand much about your complicated former life."

"Did I…sir," Harry ventured, "did I kill anyone?"

"Inadvertently, yes," Albus answered. "You killed Lord Voldemort – or rather, you were the reason he died. Quite an accomplishment," he tilted his head toward Harry in praise.

"Albus, I insist this cozy catch up cease at once. It is nearly past curfew and these boys should be in their houses. I promise you I'll invite them back here to have some tea with you another time."

"That would be splendid, Minerva!" Albus clapped his hands once and sat back in his chair. "They're all yours."

Minerva sighed and stared seriously at the boys. "Gentlemen, I have received a most disturbing report from our Head Boy this evening."

Harry and Severus were silent.

"Perhaps you can shed some light on this incident?" she gestured for them to explain. When they remained close-lipped she prompted them. "He informed me that the two of you were found in the prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor. Is this true?"

The boys nodded in unison.

"I am sure you are aware, Severus, that the only people authorized to use that bathroom are actual prefects?"

Severus nodded again.

"Why, then, did you invite Mr. Potter to accompany you?"

"I," Severus tried, then cleared his throat, "I thought he would have fun – he wanted to be a prefect with me but he wasn't, I just thought I'd show him something neat – make him feel a bit better."

"Is this the first time you have invited Mr. Potter to the prefect bath?" McGonagall inquired.

Severus nodded, "Yes, Miss."

"Hmm," she drew her lips into a thin line. "There was a second aspect to this report, however. Are you aware of what that might be?"

Harry and Severus didn't move, but each felt the heat rushing to their cheeks as the blush blossomed.

"Apparently, Mr. Harris thought he saw the two of you engaging in some sort of inappropriate action in the bath."

Harry and Severus' eyes were glued to the floor.

"He reported to me that you were locked in what appeared to be an intimate embrace. Is this report accurate?"

Harry and Severus felt as though they had turned to stone.

"Gentlemen," she repeated, louder, "were you two together, in the bath, kissing?"

"Yes," they whispered in unison. Harry felt the tears spill over onto his cheeks. He was mortified – not at what they had done, but that they had been caught.

McGonagall contracted her brow in concentration. Neither boy saw this, however, because their eyes were affixed to the floor. She finally broke the silence. "Well, I shall be owling your parents in the morning about this incident. Additionally, Severus, you will serve a detention for abusing the privilege of being a prefect and both of you shall lose twenty points each for your houses for…displaying a lack of judgment."

The boys nodded in acceptance.

"I trust you will be able to make it back to your common rooms without further issue?" They nodded again. "Very well. Mr. Potter, you head back first." Harry rose and glanced surreptitiously at Severus, who was still staring at the floor. He thought he saw tears on Severus' cheeks as well. Once Harry had left, Albus' portrait spoke to Severus.

"Severus, are you aware of your relationship with Harry before your curse?"

Severus looked up at the man, and nodded. "We didn't care much for each other."

Albus chuckled, "Oh, I'll daresay that is an understatement. You misunderstand me, however. I meant after my death. Do you remember what transpired between you and Harry?"

Severus shook his head.

"Well, I can only assume that your memories will come back with time. I wanted to tell you then, but never quite found the right time to do so, so I shall tell you now: Thank you – for everything you have done," he saw the look of confusion on Severus' face behind the tears. "You will remember with time. Oh, and incidentally," he beamed, "I am so very pleased that you two have finally found each other. It is what I had hoped for these many years – I only regret I was not alive to see it."

"Found each other?" Minerva looked up at Albus with confusion.

"Yes, Minerva. I shall fill you in on the details once young Severus here has made his way to bed. Suffice it to say that this incident tonight does not come to me as much of a surprise." McGonagall's eyes widened in shock. She opened her mouth to speak but Albus forestalled her, "When the boy is gone, Minerva." She nodded.

"Off to bed with you, Severus," she shooed him away. He stood and left, flummoxed by the comments the former Headmaster had made. Had he really killed people? What kind of awful person must he have been? He began to feel the faint stirrings of self-loathing and doubt. It made him nauseous.

The next morning, Severus and Harry made their way to breakfast with trepidation. They didn't speak of the night before – in fact, they found it difficult to talk at all. Normally, silences between them were comfortable, but this one was laced with awkwardness. They were halfway done with their food when they felt a presence behind them and a hand on their respective shoulders. They turned around and immediately both of them were sure they were going to lose their recent breakfast.

"Come with me, now," Hermione said with a peculiar look in her eye. Both boys exchanged a look of sheer terror mixed with the utmost mortification and rose to follow their mother out of the Great Hall, the object of fixation of hundreds of onlookers. Once outside the doors, she turned to them. "Go change, we're leaving. Be back here in exactly fifteen minutes." The boys turned away from her and walked in silence until they were out of her sight. At that, their silence finally broke.

"Why d'you reckon she's taking us away?" "Where is she taking us?" "She didn't say we were going home, only that we were leaving." "Are we coming back?" "We're in so much trouble." "We're never going to see the light of day again." "What do you think the McGonagall actually told her?" "Maybe she didn't tell her exactly what Harris told her." They finally reached the point where their paths diverged, and they stared at each other, tension thick in the air. They both released their breath with a _whoosh_ before turning away from each other and running the rest of the way to their common rooms. Once they returned to their mother, she was holding a comb. She held it out to them without a word, and they realized it was a portkey. The moment the three of them had their hands on it, they were jerked from the spot and hurtled through space.

Their feet slammed down onto hard stone and it took a moment for Harry and Severus to regain their bearings.

"Where are we?" Harry finally asked.

"St. Mungo's," Hermione replied, walking over to the reception desk. "We're here to see Healer Alantra." The receptionist nodded and sent a flying note away from the desk.

"She'll be down in a moment." Hermione thanked the woman and made her way back over to Harry and Severus.

"St. Mungo's?" Severus cried in disbelief. "Why are we here? We're not ill!"

"I know that," Hermione said with an air of asperity. "I just don't know what else to do."

"To do?" Harry asked, with irritation. Were they going to be committed? Did his parents think that being gay was some sort of mental illness?

"Yes, Harry, I don't know what to do. You are aware of why Professor McGonagall felt the need to owl me at the crack of dawn this morning, don't you?" She felt twinges of remorse for taking a tone with Harry she hadn't used since their own days at Hogwarts.

"Well, erm," Severus began, "We're not quite sure what exactly she told you."

Hermione pulled them closer to the wall, away from other people and spoke in a low voice. "First of all, I have to say I am extremely disappointed in you, Severus. I don't care if Harry is your brother or your best friend – allowing him to use the prefect bath was wrong. Abusing the privilege of prefect is something I wouldn't have expected from you. I can only trust that if Professor McGonagall doesn't choose to remove you as prefect that you will never, ever do something like that again." Severus nodded, contrite. She paused for a moment before continuing. "That was not the only contents of the owl, however," she said, looking at both boys. Their gazes shifted to the floor, but she reached her hands up to cup both boys' chins and force them to meet her eyes. "Apparently, Professor McGonagall is under the impression that you were seen together in the prefect's bath." When the boys didn't say anything, she kept going. "And she also gave me the impression that the activities in which you were engaging were…less than appropriate." The boys tried to exchange a glance, but Hermione's strong grip on their chins prevented them from doing so. "Is this true?" Harry felt the flush rising on his cheeks and Severus was willing his breakfast to stay in his stomach. As it was, both boys nodded their admission. "Was this some sort of…I don't know…experimentation? Perhaps a dare? What Merlin's name would possess you to do something like that?" She finally let go of their chins and their heads immediately dropped back to the floor. They were saved any further embarrassment by the arrival of the Healer Alantra.

"Mrs. Weasley, I received your owl this morning. If you'll come with me we can get started." She motioned for the trio to follow her and they eventually found themselves in what Harry and Severus took to be some sort of examination room. She transfigured the narrow, white bed into two comfortable chairs and turned to Hermione. "If it's all right with you, Mrs. Weasley, I'd prefer to speak to the boys alone first." Hermione nodded, gave a worried glance at Harry and Severus, and then left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Well," the Healer turned back to face the boys. "Let's begin at the beginning, shall we? I'm Healer Alantra. And you must be Harry," she nodded at Harry, "Which leaves you to be Severus." The boys confirmed her assumptions with a nod. "Right. First of all, I want you to know that I'm not here to judge you or commit you or do anything unpleasant. I'm here to help you – well, your mother anyway, she seems quite concerned. Before we get to the latest incident, I want to ask you about your memories. I'm well aware of your history, and your mother says you've been remembering things lately?" The boys turned to look at each other and then back to the healer, agreeing. "And are these memories the reason – even perhaps part of the reason – that you two became…intimate yesterday?"

The boys shook their heads. The Healer paused, looking thoughtful. "Was last night the first time the two of you have ever…been together?" The boys exchanged a glance and then looked back at the Healer and shook their heads. "Since when? When did this start?"

Harry finally decided it was time to start talking. "Sometime during third year – I'm not really sure exactly when it started." The healer nodded thoughtfully.

"I was wondering if perhaps you might let me examine some of these memories? It won't hurt a bit."

"Both of us?" Severus finally found his voice. The Healer nodded. "I suppose," Severus said warily.

"Well, have a seat," she motioned for them to each take a seat. They complied, and she moved around behind Harry. "I'll start with you, Mr. Potter. Just relax and close your eyes. This will be over in just a few moments."

Harry could feel Severus' stare and tension as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his heart pounding. He felt the Healer's hands rest on the sides of his temples and suddenly, images were swimming behind his eyelids – memories from his life that he remembered that were normal, but also the memories that had begun to resurface over the past few years – many of them the intimate memories of the adult Harry and Severus. He tensed when these flooded his mind, but gentle pressure on his temples reminded him to relax. Before long, the blackness behind his closed eyes returned, and the Healer's hands were removed.

"Right then," she said, moving over to Severus. She took a look at Harry's face and read the embarrassment. "Oh, come now," she smiled warmly, "Surely you don't think your thoughts are the worst I've seen in all my years? Trust me when I say they're rather mild when compared to others of that nature. You've nothing to be ashamed of." Severus' eyes widened at the understanding of what the Healer must have seen in Harry's mind, and his look at Harry was panicked. "You too," she nudged Severus as she moved to stand at his back. "There's no reason to be embarrassed. I have teenagers at home, myself. Stop being so anxious." Severus felt that would be harder for him to do than it was for her to say, but he focused on slowing his heart rate and wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers as he closed his eyes and waited to feel the Healer's fingertips on his temples. The Healer watched as similar images flowed through Severus' mind – some of them the same as Harry's, just from a different point of view. Others were different – darker. She pulled away eventually, her mind made up. She made her way to the door and beckoned Hermione back inside. "Mrs. Weasley, I was wondering if I might speak with you while the boys sit in the hallway. Boys, you will find a row of seats across from this room. Please take those and stay there until we are finished." Harry and Severus got up and exchanged a glance with each other and their mother, and slowly walked outside. As soon as the door was closed, however, they pressed their ears against the cool panel and strained to hear the inside conversation.

"Mrs. Weasley," the Healer began, "I have had an opportunity to examine both your sons' memories. Have they told you what they have been remembering?"

"Yes, some of it," Hermione was wary, "but I suppose I don't really have any way to know if they've shared all of it."

"I doubt they have."

"Do you know why these memories are returning to them after all this time? We were told they would never remember – when we brought them here as infants they were even checked and there were no remnants of their adult lives found in their minds."

"Hmm, yes," the Healer contracted her brow in concentration. "I believe I have an explanation for that. It seems to me that the undeveloped brains of the boys while they were infants and young children suppressed their prior memories so effectively that no one was able to find them – because those parts of their brains were unused at that point. As they have grown and their brains have matured, as they have been able to access more and more of their intellectual potential; the portions of their brains containing those memories are opening up and they are now accessible. It is my opinion that until they reach full cognitive maturity, they will continue to experience flashes of their previous lives. In perhaps only a few years, their memories will be complete."

Hermione was stunned. She finally found her voice. "They'll remember everything?" she was appalled.

"Well, as much as you or I remember of our lives. Of course anything they didn't remember as they grew up the first time won't be there now, but the essential, important events? Yes, they will be completely aware. It may take quite some time and work to assimilate the past with their present."

"And this is why you think they did what they did last night? Are they…confused?"

The Healer smiled apologetically, "I'm afraid not. The memories that I witnessed have made it quite clear that before the curse, Harry and Severus were involved in a relationship."

"Well of course they were – Severus was his Professor," Hermione looked confused.

"No," the Healer clarified, "I mean an intimate, romantic relationship."

Hermione shook her head in denial. "No, that's simply not possible."

"I assure you, the memories are quite graphic. The nature of their relationship – of their mutual feelings – is unquestionable."

"But…" Hermione sputtered, "But it's impossible! They hated each other! They couldn't even be in the same room without it turning into a shouting match – Snape…he was horrible to Harry. And Harry couldn't stand him, either. There is No Possible Way they became…involved. I just can't believe it." She sat down, dazed, into the nearest chair.

"Well, something must have happened to change their minds about each other. They haven't remembered it yet – I didn't see it. But the facts are what they are. I am convinced that their recent actions are a result of these latent feelings manifesting themselves once again."

"Harry…and Severus…together…impossible," Hermione whispered, she seemed to have forgotten the Healer's presence.

The Healer cleared her throat to retrieve Hermione's attention. "Mrs. Weasley, given the direction your boys seemed to be headed, I would strongly recommend considering changing the living arrangements at your home. Perhaps send one of the boys to live with a relative?"

"What? We can't do that! I won't send one of my children away!" Hermione was appalled at the thought.

"Well, something needs to be done. They are in separate Houses at school, and I doubt they will attempt another escapade like the one last night, but outside of Hogwarts, their contact must be supervised as well."

"Well, I suppose we should at least separate their rooms," Hermione conceded.

"They share a room?" the Healer's voice rose in disbelief.

"They always have, since we adopted them," Hermione explained.

"Then yes, I would have to insist that they be separated at night."

Hermione's eyes were filled with comprehension. "You don't think they would…"

"I'm quite sure they already have."

Hermione covered her face with her hands and let out a muffled cry.

"Look, dear, I know this is a lot to take in right now. Give it a few days to digest. Things aren't as bad as they seem. The main concern is making sure nothing inappropriate happens before they come of age. After that, they can make their own decisions. If it's any consolation, in their memories together, they seemed incredibly happy."

Hermione looked up and smiled weakly. "Well, thank you so much for your help. I'll take the boys home now. I suppose they can return to school next week, after we've had a chance to sort things out."

"That sounds reasonable," the Healer allowed. "If you need any more help, just let us know."

Hermione nodded, rising from her chair and heading to the door. Harry and Severus heard her steps and stumbled back to sit in the chairs. Hermione opened the door and stepped into the hallway. "Let's go, boys." They followed her out to the front hall of St. Mungo's and the boys took the proffered portkey; moments later they found themselves in their own sitting room.

"I've had your professors send you the work for the rest of the week. Stay in here and start working on it until your father comes home and I have a chance to talk to him."

True to his Gryffindor nature, Harry mustered the courage to ask his mother the question he knew Severus shared with him. "Mum, are we in trouble?"

"Well, I'm under the impression Severus will be serving a detention and that both of you lost your houses some points."

"Yeah, but are you and Dad going to punish us?"

"Your father and I will have to talk about it, but no, I'm not sure that's in order."

"Mum," Harry paused, "Are you mad at us? You know, because of what we did?"

Hermione flitted to Harry's side and wrapped her arms around him. "Oh, Harry, no. No, I'm not mad at you – surprised? Yes. Maybe even a little concerned, but I'm not mad at you – or at Severus. It's just a bit of a shock. You have to understand…your dad and I – before, when we were with you before, we just knew you so well. We thought we knew – well, we thought we knew everything about you. It's just a bit hard to believe we were so wrong."

"I know Severus and I hated each other," Harry dropped his voice.

"You do?" Hermione pulled back and looked Harry in the eye.

"Yeah, we've both remembered…stuff…not good stuff, about how we used to feel."

"Oh, darling, I'm so sorry. I never wanted you to know those things – to have to relive that. Either of you," she looked over at Severus. "How are you dealing with it? Do you have any questions?"

"Well," Harry said after some consideration, "We've talked about it, yeah. We decided it didn't really matter much. I mean, we aren't really even those people. They're different blokes who lived in a different life. I just hope we both remember how we got to be…friends." Harry blushed slightly.

"Well," Hermione reassured him, "I'm sure you will. The Healer was quite confident you would eventually remember everything. It may take a while, but everything will come back to you." Harry nodded. "Right, well, get started on your work – I have to owl your father." And with that she made her way into the den to get parchment and a quill. Once she was out of sight, Harry and Severus both flopped on the couch, exhaling violently.

"I was sure we were goners," Severus admitted.

"Me too," Harry agreed. "If they ever let us go back, there's no way we can do anything again. We'll just have to deal with it – wait 'til we get home. What do you think Harris is going to tell people?" Harry was suddenly anxious.

"I dunno. Maybe McGonagall told him to keep quiet. I don't fancy the whole school knowing what's going on."

"Well," Harry looked in defeat over at the stack of books on the end table, "Let's get started."

The boys worked until Hermione called them into the kitchen for lunch, where she attempted to make awkward conversation about their classes and impending OWLS. After they finished eating, she sent them back to the sitting room and they continued their work. Unaware of how much time had passed, they were startled by their father whooshing out of the fireplace in front of them that evening. Hermione heard the commotion and came into the room. She sent the younger children outside to play.

"Right," she said pointedly. "Boys, go upstairs while your father and I talk. Severus, you go to Hugo's room. Harry, you can go to your room." The boys opened their mouths to protest and question, but Hermione didn't let them get a word out. "No arguing, go now." The boys turned to leave and walked out of the room, but neither of them had any intention of going upstairs. They tramped on the steps to give the illusion they were gone, but snuck back to hide behind the archway that connected the kitchen to the sitting room. Their parents must have believed they were truly upstairs, because they began their discussion.

"Ron," Hermione began.

"Is this about your owl? What's happened? What's the 'serious issue' we have to discuss before dinner?" As if to punctuate his point, his stomach let out a loud growl.

"I'll explain in a minute. First, you have to promise me something," Hermione said gently.

"What?" Ron was suspicious.

"Well, what I'm going to tell you, it's probably going to be upsetting. You have to promise me that you won't overreact."

"Why would I overreact?" Ron was offended. Hermione rolled her eyes. "What?" Ron demanded.

"Just promise me: no yelling, no screaming, no stomping off. Promise me you'll stay seated right here until we're done with our conversation."

"Hermione, you're scaring me," Ron was turning from indignant to concerned. "Is someone sick? Dying? And why are the boys home?" he realized belatedly that this should not have been the case.

"Well," Hermione replied, "They're sort of the topic of this discussion. But you still haven't promised me. Ron, you have to swear to me – swear that you will not go berserk."

Ron huffed and settled back into the couch. "Fine," he said petulantly.

"The boys are home because I picked them up from Hogwarts and took them to St. Mungo's."

Ron's eyes widened, "St. Mungo's? Why?"

"Let me get through everything first, then you can ask questions. It'll go quicker that way."

Ron nodded in capitulation.

"Well, we went to St. Mungo's because I was concerned. I received an owl from Professor McGonagall this morning that the boys had been involved in an incident last night." Ron made to open his mouth but closed it with the stare from Hermione. "They're both fine – it wasn't a fight or anything. But I took them to St. Mungo's because I thought that maybe the memories they've been having were responsible for their…odd behavior." She paused to let this sink in. "The Healer examined both boys and found some very interesting memories that have surfaced in the boys' minds." She took a deep breath before continuing, knowing that regardless of Ron's promise, he was going to be outraged at what came next. "It turns out that Harry and Severus, well, before the curse – and I'm not sure when it started or why, but…well, they were involved."

Ron looked like he'd been struck by a bludger. "In…involved?" he stuttered. "With who?"

Hermione closed her eyes and willed her husband to control his notorious, short fuse. "With each other."

It took a few beats for the understanding to set in before Ron reacted. "WHAT?" he screeched an octave higher than his normal timbre. "No way! That's crazy! That Healer, she…he…nutters!" he had bolted up off the couch and was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, jabbing his finger at Hermione.

"Ron, sit down," Hermione commanded.

"Harry? And Severus? Together? Not bloody likely! Harry would never! That slimy, greasy git – Harry hated – hell, we all hated him! And he loathed Harry! Made his life effing miserable! There's NO WAY!"

"Ron, sit _down_," Hermione repeated with more force, grabbing Ron's arm as he passed close by her. He flopped gracelessly onto the couch. "The Healer isn't nutters. She saw it in their minds. She couldn't tell when it had started, or even what got them together in the first place, but apparently the images were…erm, quite graphic. There's really no question about it."

Ron's eyes popped open and a livid expression grew on his face. "But…Harry was only 17 when…when they were cursed – Snape was his teacher! That means…they shouldn't…that's wrong! Harry was just a kid!"

"First of all, Snape wasn't teaching anyone at the time, remember? Second, Harry was of age, Ron. Think about what you and I were doing by then. It's not surprising that Harry was doing things, too."

"But with _Snape_? What about Ginny? I thought they were together!"

Hermione shook her head with a small smile. "They were. It didn't really…work out."

"What, Ginny wasn't good enough for him? Too _young_?" he sneered.

"Oh stop it, Ron," Hermione snapped. "Harry's gay. There was nothing wrong with Ginny – except that she was a girl."

"Harry's not gay," Ron said, taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

"Ron," she said, frustrated. "Harry is very, very gay. I assure you. The thought of girls does nothing for him."

"How d'you know that?" Ron was mystified. "What about Cho? I don't understand – if he fancied blokes, then why was he going out with girls?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Really, Ron – if the best thing you have to say about your first kiss is that it's 'wet', do you really think that's a promising sign? I figured it out sometime during our fourth year. To be honest," she furrowed her brow, "I'm not sure when Harry had figured it out; he never said anything to me. But girls know these things. It was pretty obvious."

"How can someone not know they're gay?" Ron was puzzled.

"Well, it takes some people their whole lives to really sort it out," she explained. "I'm not sure why it takes some people longer than others. I guess all we know is that at some point Harry _did_ figure it out, and Severus shared his feelings."

Ron shook his head, still reeling. "But…Snape, how…why? I just don't understand? And anyway, what does that have to do with the owl McGonagall sent you this morning?"

Hermione braced herself again, ready to deliver the final blow, "Well, apparently last night the Head Boy walked in on Harry and Severus in the prefect's bath, erm, engaging in some compromising activities."

"NO!" Ron swore a loud oath and made to jump up again from the couch. Hermione restrained him by exerting considerable pressure on his thigh with her nearest hand.

"Well, obviously I would have preferred they hadn't been doing it either, but the fact is that it happened, and the Healer thinks it's these 'latent feelings', I think she called them, that are manifesting themselves again and drawing Harry and Severus to each other."

"Well, we'll just have to stop it," Ron said bluntly.

"Ron," Hermione rolled her eyes. "We didn't have a say in who Harry chose to become involved with before – nor should we have. We certainly shouldn't now, either. Like it or not, Harry had a life, he was of age, and he made choices. So did Severus. Our feelings about those choices are irrelevant, and I, for one, refuse to let my personal point of view on their relationship – then or now – change how I feel about Harry, or Severus for that matter. They are our sons, and it's our responsibility to love them no matter what. Are you honestly telling me that if Harry had come to you in our sixth or seventh year and told you he fancied blokes, that you would have stopped being his friend?"

Ron scowled, "Well, no, I guess not."

"Then there you go. Who Harry chooses to be with isn't nearly as important as the result – which is his happiness. The same goes for Severus."

"Well, we've got to do something. They can't go 'round snogging each other every two seconds – here or at school."

"Right, which is why we needed to talk together and figure out what to do without making them feel ashamed of what is happening. It's not their fault that their memories are coming back to them now and reawakening certain feelings."

Ron nodded grudgingly.

"Well, the Healer suggested we send one of the boys to live with a relative." Seeing Ron's frown, she continued quickly, "I told her that was out of the question. But I do think we need to separate them. One of them will have to move into Hugo's room. If neither of them wants to, we'll just have to flip a coin."

"Right," Ron agreed readily.

"I'm not too concerned about school – they're in different houses and there is ample supervision elsewhere. I'm reasonably sure they won't try something like last night again – especially if we make it clear that behavior is unacceptable until they leave school."

"All right," Ron didn't disagree with any of Hermione's reasoning.

"Are you ready to call them back in?" she asked. Ron shrugged. "All right then," she called out to Harry and Severus, "Boys? Come down here, please."

Harry and Severus went back over to the stairs and pretended to come down them, then walked into the sitting room.

"Have a seat," Hermione flicked her wand and the two sitting chairs moved over so they faced the couch. The boys took their seats. "All right. Your father and I have talked and we have some things to discuss with you. First of all, I want to make sure you both understand that we are not angry with either of you for your feelings towards each other." She looked back and forth from Harry to Severus to make sure she was understood. They both nodded, but didn't relax much. "That doesn't mean, however, that your behavior is appropriate. For one, you are – for all intents and purposes – brothers. You live under the same roof – even share the same bedroom. It is completely inappropriate to do these things under these circumstances."

"But we're not even related!" Harry blurted out.

"I know, I know," Hermione assured him, "But it doesn't change anything. This type of relationship, given the situation, is improper. Once you leave school, you'll be welcome to pursue whatever…activities…you'd like. But not until then."

"So…" Harry tried to understand, "We have to forget about how we feel about each other then? Just pretend it isn't there?"

"No, no of course not. There's nothing wrong with your feelings – your emotions. It's your actions that are unacceptable. Does that make sense?"

Harry and Severus exchanged a glance and then looked back between Ron and Hermione and nodded. Ron decided to add his thoughts.

"Look, it isn't that it's the two of you, specifically. We'd feel this way no matter who you wanted to…spend your time with. It's just a bit more difficult since we're a family. But we wouldn't want to receive an owl from school saying you'd been caught…doing that…with anyone else, either."

"We understand," Severus said quietly.

"One of you is going to have to move into Hugo's room. And you'll have to make sure you're within earshot of one of us whenever you're home. And remember," Hermione kept going quickly, seeing the protest on the boys' faces, "We would have these rules if either of you wanted to bring home someone you'd met at school – someone you…fancied." Harry and Severus looked resigned.

"I'll move in with Hugo," Harry volunteered.

"All right," Ron approved. "I'll move your things for you," and he rose from the couch to begin that task.

Harry and Severus were left with Hermione in the sitting room. "I shouldn't have to tell you that if we receive another owl about inappropriate actions while you're at school that there will be serious consequences. Don't forget that your father and I have contacts at Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. We don't want to take drastic measures, but we will if you can't make good decisions and control yourselves." Harry and Severus nodded with promise and understanding, and Hermione stood up and ruffled both their hair in turn. "I'm going to start dinner. Why don't you two go upstairs and help your father?" Harry and Severus realized she wasn't really offering them an option, so they made their way upstairs.

Harry and Severus went back to school a few days later, and it proved to be less difficult than they had thought. They were so burdened with preparations for their OWLS that even if they had been in the same house and allowed to spend their nights in the same bed, they doubted they would have been able to do more than sleep. Neither one had the time or energy for much else. Once exams finally ended, there was a pervasive sense of relief that flooded all the fifth years. The train ride home was cheerful enough, and about halfway through, Harry and Severus separated from their other friends and made it back to their compartment, which they occupied alone.

"It's going to be difficult this summer," Severus finally said, fingering the fringe on his t-shirt.

"Yeah. You've got it easy, though – I'm sharing a room with Hugo. I won't be able to do anything with him in there."

Severus snorted. "You never woke me up – at least, not until you started doing it while I was in bed with you." Harry swatted Severus' thigh. "You know, we still have a bit of time before we reach King's Cross, and my prefect duties are all done for the ride. There's nobody here on the train to catch us…we could ward the door…" He glanced up at Harry, who looked back at him with unconcealed desire. Their wands were out in a flash and they drew the compartment shades over the windows and locked and warded the door against unwelcome intruders. As soon as they were convinced they wouldn't be disturbed – or caught – Harry thrust himself at Severus, pinning him to the outer window. He could see the countryside racing by, and he smirked, thinking how glad he was that they traveled such a desolate route on their journey. Severus gasped with delighted surprise and brought himself forward to meet Harry's lips. They crushed their mouths together, desperate to convey feelings that had been forced dormant for months. It was as if nothing would ever be enough and soon they were breathless, falling onto the padded compartment bench. Severus lay on top of Harry, his lips caressing mouth, jaw, ear, neck, every bit of revealed skin he could reach. He felt Harry's arousal through his jeans and knew Harry could feel his, as well, pressed up against his pelvis. He wanted to do more, to take off more of their clothes, but it had been too long for either of them, and the twisting took over their stomachs and the heat flushed out to their extremities so suddenly that they didn't realize how close either of them were to the edge. They ground their hips together only a few times before they both grunted and tensed, the wetness pumping into their pants. Severus lowered his head to Harry's shoulder, spent.

"Sorry," he said. "Meant for that to last a bit longer."

Harry chuckled. "Guess we'll have to make another go of it before King's Cross."

Severus returned the quiet laugh. "Maybe we can find some way around Mum and Dad's rule once we're home."

"We'd better. I'm not sure I can stand to see you walking around the house in your pajama bottoms, no shirt on, and not have the need to wank five times a day."

"Seeing me without a shirt on makes you want to wank over me?" Severus raised his head with a genuine smile.

"Of course, you prat. You're sexy enough with your clothes _on_. Seeing you with them off makes me think about all the stuff I've seen us do in my head. Stuff I can't wait to try…whenever people stop trying to keep us apart."

"You're pretty fit yourself. And I've gotten a few ideas myself from those memories," Severus gave Harry a seductive look. "Too bad we won't have the time – or space," he lamented, looking around the compartment, "to try any of them before we get home."

"I can think of a way to spend our time, though," Harry smirked evilly and shifted under Severus, pressing his once-again interested prick against Severus' thigh. "How 'bout that second go?" Severus returned the grin and brought his head down to capture Harry's lips in a greedy kiss.

The two rounds on the train home kept Severus and Harry satisfied for about a week, but eventually, it got to the point where all they had to do was just look at one another and they would feel the anticipation curl in their stomachs and move down to their groins. Harry was especially desperate since the only place he could find any relief was in the bathroom, and it wasn't nearly as comfortable as his bed would have been.

Finally, one night, he could take it no longer, and once he heard Hugo's rhythmical breathing of sleep, he swung silently out of bed and left the room. He made his way down the hall and pressed his ear to the door of his parents' bedroom, listening for conversation, or any other indication they weren't asleep. Instead, he heard soft snores and the rustling of sheets that sounded like someone was turning over. Satisfied, he turned and made his way back down the hall to his old bedroom where Severus was, presumably, sleeping. He put his hand on the doorknob and tried to turn it as quietly as possible, but became frustrated when he realized it was locked. Well, not locked, he supposed, for he could twist the knob, but it seemed the door was jammed because he couldn't move it a millimeter, no matter how hard he tried. He finally gave up.

"Severus," he whispered, "Are you awake?" He listened for a response. "Severus?" He didn't dare to speak any louder for fear of waking his parents – or younger siblings. Finally, he heard footsteps approach the door.

"What?" Severus whispered from the other side.

"Let me in," Harry responded.

Harry was annoyed to see that Severus had no problem whatsoever opening the door, even though Harry had been completely unsuccessful.

"Why'd you need me to open the door for you?" Severus was perplexed.

"It wouldn't open for me," Harry shrugged.

"Well, you'd better come in, they'll wake up if we keep talking out here," and Severus moved aside so Harry could enter the bedroom. As soon as he came flush with the door frame, however, Harry felt as though he had hit an invisible wall.

"What?" He puzzled to no one in particular.

"What's wrong?" Severus asked, grabbing his wrist and trying to pull Harry into the room, but feeling the resistance. "Why can't you get into the room?" They looked at each other and realization dawned in their eyes.

"Mum," they said together, frustrated.

"Well, bollocks," Severus said, folding his arms across his bare chest.

"Damn straight," Harry agreed.

"There is nothing straight about this situation," Severus let his mouth curve up into a teasing smile.

Harry got a mischievous grin of his own and reached out to Severus, who took Harry's hand. "Well, if I can't get in, you'll just have to come out," he said in a low voice, pulling Severus into the hallway.

"Where?" Severus was cut off by Harry pushing him into the wall and pinning his arms above his head at the wrists. He was unable to finish his question because Harry's mouth had completely covered his and his brain had forgotten the train of thought it had been on as his entire body was instantly focused on the immediate hard-on that had sprung up between his thighs.

"We can be quiet," Harry breathed into Severus' ear. "And quick."

"Here?" Severus questioned, desire thick in his voice.

"Why not? We've done it before – I've seen us. Well, not in this house, but up against a wall. You seemed to like it when I took control."

Severus shivered against the wall. Harry moved his kisses from Severus' mouth down his neck and to his chest. He let go of Severus' hands so that he could reach his target: Severus' nipples. He took one in his mouth and teased it to pebble-hardness as Severus writhed against the wall, unable to move freely because in place of restraining Severus' wrists, Harry had pinned his hands against Severus' hips. As he moved to the opposite nipple, Severus brought his fist up to his mouth to stifle the noise threatening to escape his throat as pleasure rippled through him, heightened by the inability to satisfy his need as he normally would.

"From what I've been able to remember, you seemed to like that, too," Harry whispered into Severus' chest. He kicked Severus' feet apart and settled one of his legs in between them, his thigh pressing up against Severus' rock-hard cock. Harry let go of Severus' hips and allowed them both to undulate together, pressing their entire bodies as close as they could without sharing skin. Severus' hands dug furrows into Harry's back and Harry's hands grasped Severus' hair as they molded their mouths together. It took all their energy to remain silent, so they had no way to stem their rising climaxes, which overtook them, sending their bodies into convulsions together. As their passion faded, Severus lowered his head to rest it on Harry's shoulder, and they both recovered their breath, listening for any signs that their forbidden escapade had been discovered. Satisfied that the rest of the house was still sleeping soundly, Harry nudged Severus' head up and bestowed a tender kiss on his lips. "Well," he said softly, lowering his hands and stepping away from Severus and the wall. "At least we've found a way around Mum's diligence. She can't ward the whole house."

"Rather cunning, if you ask me," Severus smiled, giving Harry's hand a squeeze. "Perhaps you should have been in Slytherin." And with that, they parted: Severus returning to his room and closing the door and Harry going back to his and Hugo's. In just a few minutes, the entire house was fast asleep.

The rest of the summer was more bearable with the discovery of late-night hallway rendezvous possibilities, although sometimes they did wish they could enjoy their time together horizontally instead of up against a hard wall. Once OWL scores came, the boys spent some time deciding what NEWT level courses they would take. It didn't surprise Ron and Hermione that the boys ended up with the same exact class selections: Charms, Herbology, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Runes, Arithmancy, and Transfiguration. Once they had sent in their requests, their book lists arrived and the family made yet another trip to Diagon Alley. In no time at all, they were back at King's Cross to embark on their sixth year. They were instructed by their parents to take care of Hugo, who was entering his first year at Hogwarts. They already had plenty of cousins and children of their parents' friends with them at school, but they did promise they would look out for their younger brother. They both cringed at each other over their younger sibling's head as they realized it would be even more trouble to find time to themselves with Hugo tagging at their heels like a puppy. As they made their way onto the train, Harry and Severus caught the tail end of their parents' conversation – something they weren't supposed to hear.

"Do you think they'll be all right?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"They're sixteen! Of course they'll be all right," Ron scoffed.

"No, I mean…well, this summer they were good, but now that they're at school, do you think they'll try to find time to – to be together?"

Ron blanched, "They didn't do anything the whole part of last year after they got caught, why would they do anything this year?"

"I suppose. Oh, it was awful, feeling the tension between them this summer, it had to be so difficult for them," Hermione was sympathetic.

Ron chuckled, shaking his head. "Let's just hope they never find the Room of Requirement."

Hermione looked at him, appalled and paled.

"What?" Ron said innocently. "It's not like either one of them can get pregnant." And with that, Hermione whacked him with her purse before stomping off, Ron calling out placations behind her.


	6. Chapter 6

_Very mature content - slash, chan, adoptive incest, and if you consider 17 'underage' then there's consuensual adult/teen slash - read with discretion_

**Chapter 6**

Harry and Severus found a compartment for Hugo with some of their younger cousins, and then Harry found an empty compartment that he and Severus could share alone. Harry busied himself arranging their things while Severus went to the prefect compartment to get his assignments. He was back before too long, though, and they began talking.

"What did Dad say he hoped we wouldn't find?" Harry asked, chewing on a sandwich.

"Some sort of room – didn't quite catch the name, though. Maybe it's a secret place people don't really know about – somewhere secluded. Mum seemed worried – like something bad would happen if we found it."

"Yeah, like we might be tempted to shag each other senseless," Harry snorted.

"Oh God," Severus closed his eyes and dragged in a breath. "Just hearing you say the word shag makes me hard. I don't know if I can wait two years for it."

"Well, other people are finding a way to do it; we should be able to figure it out."

"I'm pretty sure I know the mechanics of it," Severus rolled his eyes.

Harry swatted his arm, "That's not what I meant. They're finding _places_ to do it. We should just ask around."

They spent the better half of the rest of the train ride discussing where anyone would be able to sneak off to spend intimate time together in the castle without either getting caught or being ridiculously uncomfortable. Most of their conclusions ended up with them doubled over in laughter at the odd pictures created.

The first few weeks of the term left Harry and Severus with little to do except try to keep up with all their work. They spent some quality time together in Hogsmeade, having a quick go with each other in the woods. It didn't involve nearly enough skin contact for either of them, though, since it was freezing, and by the time they got back to the castle, they were already full of gut-wrenching desire again. They tried desperately not to make eye contact during dinner, but it happened inevitably, and they both thought they might come right there in the Great Hall, thinking of the things they'd like to be doing to each other – watched themselves do to each other as adults – and seeing their desires reflected in the other's eyes. After dinner, Harry knew he wouldn't be able to control himself if he got near Severus, so he bolted out of the hall and raced to the fifth floor, which he hoped would be deserted so that he could walk off his tension. He was torn about what to do – he figured a cold shower would at least assuage his physical needs, but it wouldn't do anything about the images swirling around in his head. He turned to walk back to the dorms, but stopped after a few steps, worried he might run into Severus if he went back so soon. He changed his mind, though, and walked back again, wishing he could just find a place for the two of them to be together that no one would ever find, so they wouldn't have to be vigilant or alert. He snorted to himself, thinking how silly he must look, pacing back and forth across the deserted hallway. Suddenly, he jumped at something he saw out of the corner of his eye. A door was appearing in the wall on his right. Out of nowhere – out of the stone. Harry blinked his eyes in disbelief. The door most certainly had not been there a moment ago. Curious, he turned the knob and pushed in, entering the place behind the door. He let out a low sound of amazement. He was looking at what appeared to be a bedroom, but all it really had was a bed. A big bed. A very, comfortable-looking, adult-sized bed. Suddenly, he knew his wish had been granted. He didn't know how he knew, but he just had a gut feeling that no one would be able to get in once he and Severus were inside, and somehow, he also knew that he would be able to get into this room any time he wanted to. Hope burgeoned in his chest as he flew out of the room, the door melting back into the wall as he bounded down the hallway and to the library, where he hoped Severus would be.

"Severus," Harry got out, breathlessly. "You have to come with me; I have something to show you." Harry was trying to be quiet, since they were in the library, but he wasn't being all that successful. Plus, he was clutching a stitch in his side from running so far so fast.

"What?" Severus asked as he gathered his belongings and stood up to follow Harry.

"Not here," Harry answered in a low tone, glancing around. Severus exchanged a look of comprehension with him. Harry led him up to the fifth floor and in front of the space of wall where the door had appeared. He walked back and forth in front of it, just as he had done last time, and wished the same thing he had wished for before – that he could find a safe place for him and Severus to spend time without being found by anyone. Immediately, the door appeared. He heard the sharp intake of breath from Severus behind him.

"What is this place?" Severus said in awe as Harry put his hand on the door handle.

"Let me show you," Harry turned and beckoned Severus inside with him.

"Wicked," Severus grinned as Harry shut the door behind them. "Do you think anyone else knows this is here?"

"I doubt it," Harry said. "It feels familiar – maybe I knew about it before. But no one will be able to find us while we're in here."

"How do you know?" Severus was surprised.

"I'm not sure, I just…_do_…you know?"

"I do," Severus nodded – and it was true, he did know what Harry meant. He'd had those feelings, too, for years now.

"I think this calls for a celebration," Harry suggested, moving closer to Severus, his need from earlier in the evening making a reappearance.

"Well, I don't think we can do anything quite yet," Severus said solemnly, putting his hand out in front of him to stop Harry's advance.

Harry's face fell. "Why not?"

Severus let a coy smile make its way onto his lips. "Well, for starters, you have on entirely too many clothes."

Harry resumed his advance, identical smile on his face, hands removing his robes and ripping off his shirt. "I agree that we both need to become more acquainted with the joys of our…natural state…perhaps I can help you with that," he offered, helping Severus pull own shirt over his head.

In just mere moments, both boys were completely stripped, tumbling back onto the bed together. They both paused in amazement as they hit the soft, downy expanse of the bed. Scooting up toward the headboard, they both settled in the middle of the mattress.

"This is crazy," Severus breathed, hovering over Harry and nipping his lips, eyes, and ears.

"How d'you mean?" Harry asked, trying to focus his mind, which had become hazy with desire.

"Not having to worry about the wall, or top bunk, or the rest of the house hearing us," Severus finished, beginning to trail kisses down Harry's neck to the V at the base of his throat. "Not having to worry about getting caught by a Head Boy, or professor, or nosy first year." All Harry could manage was a choked moan of assent. They spent some time just kissing, touching, and holding each other, relishing the solitude and the discovery of a place where they could get around the rules that had been set before them. Passion quickly building, though, they found each other's eyes and paused, searching.

"Do you want to try?" Harry breathed, looking up at Severus.

"Now?" he seemed unsure, nervous.

"Yeah, I mean, we're here, I'm ready, you seem ready, why not?" Harry had pulled Severus down on top of him so that only their faces were separate.

"Um, well, we don't have any…stuff. You know, to prepare." Severus felt a bit embarrassed at the thought of saying 'lube,' so he hoped Harry understood what he meant.

Comprehension dawned on Harry's face. "Oh, right, yeah, I suppose we do need that. At least, we always use it in the memories I've got." Severus nodded in agreement. "Well, that doesn't mean we can't use this time wisely," Harry curved his lips into a lopsided smile. "I'll make sure we're prepared next time." Severus exhaled a small sigh of relief. He didn't know why he was so nervous – he'd seen himself and Harry together before, in his memories, but for some reason the thought of doing it for the first time they both would really remember had his stomach in knots. He would have to uncover some reserve of courage for next time. As it was, he smiled back at Harry and began his trek south along the beautiful body writhing beneath him. They became so caught up in the throes of their passion that neither one of them saw the materialization of a small bottle of lubricant on the nightstand next to the bed.

For some reason that neither of them could articulate, each time they went back to the Room of Requirement, they did not mention having sex again. Instead, they enjoyed themselves in the other ways they had become familiar with over the past few years. They both sensed that neither one of them was truly ready, and they didn't want to push each other. Their days together were spent together in class, afternoons spent together studying, talking. Each night their eyes would meet across the hall during dinner. When they were in public, they enjoyed private jokes between them: hands lingering a little too long passing potion ingredients, bodies standing just close enough to brush arms, forcing unnecessary contact when one of them would lean across the other for something. Harry was in quiet awe one day as he watched Severus bent deep in concentration over an essay in the library. _He really is beautiful, the longer hair, soft, white skin, elegant hands, how did I get so lucky?_

Severus would find times to stare at Harry, too. Sometimes in class, when Severus would finish a test earlier than his classmates, he would gaze at Harry, warmed on the inside at the tousled hair that never laid flat, the tongue that would poke out in concentration between the lips, the smooth skin on Harry's cheek that turned into rougher patches down toward the jaw line…_incredible that this gorgeous creature could be meant for me._

Neither of them was sure exactly what eventually brought them to the point of readiness; perhaps it was the stress from the impending exams – who knew? But one evening at dinner, Harry caught Severus' eye from across the room and saw a burning desire in the black depths. That sent a spark through him and he felt an aching need well up in him, too. He raised his eyebrows in question, and got a curt nod from Severus. He didn't know how he knew they were both ready, but after dinner, he would make his way up to the fifth floor and wait for Severus by the wall with their secret room. He just had to make a stop by his dormitory on the way to pick up the necessary supplies.

His trip to Gryffindor tower was quick and he made his way to the fifth floor with the necessary vial in his robe pocket. Severus was already waiting for him, arms crossed, leaning against the wall, a stance of studied nonchalance. Harry smirked and did what he had to do for the door to appear.

Once inside, Severus pinned Harry against the wall and began devouring his mouth. Hands fumbled to divest clothing, and soon both boys' attire was puddled on the floor.

"So good…" Harry managed to get out between kisses.

"I love," Severus breathed, "your mouth."

"Mmm," Harry groaned, "Do you feel it?"

They made their way over to the bed, not breaking their embrace.

"Mmmhmmm…" Severus answered, "Want you now…"

"Uhhhn," was all Harry could manage as Severus pushed him down onto the bed and proceeded to climb on top of him. Somehow they managed to maneuver themselves into the middle of the bed and continued their display of passion with lingering enjoyment. For once, it did not have the frantic feel of adolescent need, and they were thankful. Harry brought his hands behind Severus, one grasping at his back, one threaded through his hair. Severus wedged one of his hands behind Harry's waist and the other behind Harry's neck, to give him leverage for their kissing. Their legs became entangled and their hips met, skin on skin, creating a smoldering flame that spread throughout their entire bodies. It pooled in their groins and spread – fanned by each touch, each kiss. Their bodies rocked together in near-abandon, and there were noises of pleasure escaping from both of them so seamlessly that neither one knew who was making what sound. Severus was achingly aware that if they didn't stop the current scenario, he was going to come soon – but he was hoping Harry had other ideas for the evening.

"Harry," Severus slowed his hips, earning a sound of protest from the body beneath him, "Harry, what is it you want us to do tonight? How far do you want us to go?"

Green eyes met black, both full of undisguised desire. "I want you," Harry said, pulling Severus' lips back to his, "I want all of you."

"Are you sure?" Severus forced himself to pull back – not an easy thing to do when he was being distracted by a supple tongue darting in and out of his mouth.

"Aren't you?" Harry stopped suddenly. "I mean, we don't have to if you don't want to – I just, I mean, I just feel _ready_ tonight – it shouldn't be that hard to make it work. Our bodies usually take over in this kind of stuff."

Severus unwedged his hand from behind Harry's back and smoothed the fringe of hair away from his forehead. "I do; I know; it's just…" he couldn't find the words to express his feelings – they were new.

"Yeah," Harry said, nipping at Severus' jaw line, "I feel it, too. Not used to being nervous, unsure. It's odd. But I can't help feeling the other stuff, too; the need to feel you, love you, want you."

Severus' breathing quickened, "I feel it, too. I just wanted to make sure…"

"I'm sure," Harry said, and recaptured Severus' lips with his own. Their need began to make itself abundantly clear, and Severus finally had to roll off of Harry and put some space in between them.

"How do you want to do it?" He asked, tracing patterns on Harry's abdomen.

"Well," Harry mused, "Whenever I see us do it, I'm always…I dunno…a bottom, I guess you'd call it. I've never seen us do it any other way. I guess we liked it like that."

"Yeah, that's what I see, too." Severus paused, looking concerned. "I'm afraid I'm not going to know what to do. I'm afraid I'll hurt you."

"Do you remember seeing what we did before?" Harry had reached his hand over and was stroking Severus' leg where the thigh met hip.

"Yes," Severus answered.

"Then you'll be fine. We'll be fine," Harry said with a smile, as if that settled it. "Accio vial," he said softly, and a small, blue container flew into his hands from the robes across the room. "Here you go," he gave the concoction over to Severus, who unstoppered it and poured the viscous liquid out onto his hands.

"Where'd you get this stuff?" Severus wondered; the smell was intoxicating.

Harry grinned impishly, "I know people." Severus snorted.

Severus leaned over and began kissing Harry again, letting his body and memories take over the situation. He moved his hand down Harry's torso until he reached Harry's swollen erection. He let his hand ghost over the base of the shaft and then down the balls gently, which elicited a gasp of pleasure from his lover. Harry obediently spread his legs so Severus could move downward, and he slid a digit down the perineum and into Harry's cleft. Harry bucked up to meet the finger, and Severus took the opportunity to lightly caress Harry's opening. There was a low moan that Severus absorbed into his mouth as he slicked one finger inside Harry, who tried desperately to move his body to allow for deeper entry. Severus replaced the single digit with a pair, scissoring them inside Harry as his body writhed in ecstasy. Severus' bumped against a spot inside Harry that sent lightning through his body and he nearly stopped breathing. When the third finger made an appearance, Harry wrenched his face away from Severus and let out a mostly incoherent expletive.

"Are you ready?" Severus whispered into Harry's available ear.

"Oh God, yes, if you don't do it now I'm going to die," Harry begged, and he flipped over, putting a pillow under his hips.

Severus settled himself between Harry's legs and dragged his finger along Harry's opening a final time. He heard a muffled cry of pleading from the head of the bed, and he gave into his instincts. Grabbing Harry by the waist, he positioned himself and slid gently into Harry.

"Oh!" Harry wailed, "Fuck!"

Severus concentrated on not coming too soon as he drove himself all the way into Harry and then stopped. "I believe that is what we're currently engaging in," he teased.

"You say that in my memories," Harry breathed, his hips dancing and begging Severus to move.

"You say 'fuck' in most of mine, too," Severus chuckled. And with that, he began to pull out and push in using long, slow strokes. Harry pushed himself up onto all fours to give Severus a better angle and to free his hardened prick from the confines of the pillow. They moved in unison, flesh smacking and the pace increasing. Severus leaned over Harry and brought one arm to snake under his chest, grasping his shoulder. The other arm he brought around to fist Harry's now leaking cock. The pleasure spiraled through them, both groaning incoherently through the new, and yet familiar sensations this act was producing. Finally, Harry felt Severus' lips on the back of his neck, kissing softly and murmuring his name. He felt Severus' hand clench around his chest and his other hand speed up around his cock. The pace became frantic and the heat pooled in Harry's groin with an intensity he had only imagined from his memories, and he arched his back, screaming for Severus as he spurted his thick release all over Severus' hand and the bed. Harry clenching around him and thrusting involuntarily made the heat in Severus burn at fever pitch, and hearing Harry cry out his name sent him over the edge as he gave a final thrust and emptied himself into Harry. They both saw an explosion of white-hot light behind their eyes at the moment of their climax, and Severus collapsed against Harry, who simultaneously collapsed on the bed – both completely unconscious.

::

"_Severus," Albus pleaded._

_Snape gave a look of loathing and revulsion and raised his wand, "Avada Kedavra." The green curse blasted the old wizard off his feet and into the air, sending him off the tower to the unforgiving ground below._

_From his confinement behind the invisibility cloak and the restriction of the Petrificus Totalus, Harry could only watch in rage and horror as the man he cared most for in the entire world toppled out of sight._

_::_

_Harry woke up and immediately noticed several things in succession. First, it was still dark. Second, he couldn't move or speak. Third, his bed curtains were open and someone was standing over him, wand pointed directly at his heart. _

_Snape._

"_You're coming with me, Mr. Potter," he said. "I would have asked you nicely, but somehow I didn't think you'd have agreed." With that, he transfigured Harry into a delightfully green frog and pocketed him, whirling quickly out of the dorm._

_::_

"_Just fucking kill me and get it over with!" Harry screamed._

"_It is not my intention to kill you," Snape said evenly from across the room._

_Harry struggled violently against the bonds securing him to the chair in an unfamiliar room. "Fine, then take me to Voldemort, whatever it is you're going to do! Just get on with it! You've won! Are you enjoying gloating?"_

"_Really, Mr. Potter, it was against my better judgment to remove the silencing charm, but I may have to rethink that decision if you continue to shout. It's hurting my ears."_

"_Your…your ears? You think I care about your fucking ears? You bastard! I'm going to kill you for what you did to him – he trusted you! I tried to get him to listen, but…" A wave of Snape's wand stopped the sound from Harry's mouth, although his lips continued to move for a few seconds afterward before he realized it was useless and snapped his jaw shut._

"_Much better. Now, I think it best to get to business, we have work to do. Your presence on the tower that night complicated things quite a bit, but I believe I am resourceful enough to not let that deter the current plans."_

_Harry shot him the deadliest glare he could muster, trying to convey all the hateful things going on his head at the moment._

"_Yes, yes, you hate me; I'm a bastard, all that rot. Really, Mr. Potter, it's getting old. I have things of importance to discuss with you, and seeing as how I have not yet killed you or delivered you to the Dark Lord, I would have thought it would be plain that I do not intend to harm you – and that your restraints are more for my safety rather than your confinement." _

_He moved closer to Harry, who flinched. Snape rolled his eyes with disdain and summoned a penseive._

"_We are going to take a trip down memory lane," he said, bringing his wand tip to his temple and pulling out several strands of a wispy substance Harry knew to be memories. "Right," he said, finishing depositing the memories into the bowl. He positioned the bowl in front of Harry's face, put a hand on Harry's shoulder (who flinched again and was rewarded with a huff), and pushed them both forward into the swirling substance._

_Once the falling sensation had subsided, Harry realized they were standing in Professor Dumbledore's office and both Dumbledore and Snape were there._

"_Really, Albus, why, oh why would you put on that ring? Surely you knew it carried a curse?" Severus was waving his wand over Professor Dumbledore's blackened hand, muttering low incantations._

"_I was not thinking clearly at the time," he said, his head leaned back against his chair._

"_That much is painfully obvious," Snape snapped at him._

"_Well?" Dumbledore opened his eyes, searching Severus' face for answers._

"_I have contained the curse for the time being. But I cannot stop it. It will spread. It is the kind of curse that strengthens over time."_

"_How long do I have?" Dumbledore asked. Harry noticed that his tone was remarkably unaffected – as though he were discussing what to have for tea, or the latest weather report._

"_I don't know – there's no way for me to say definitively. I would think maybe a year." Severus lowered himself into one of the chairs opposite the large, wooden desk._

"_Well, then this makes things quite simple." Dumbledore folded his hands in his lap._

"_Simple?" Snape asked sharply, bringing his head up from where it had lowered to gaze at the floor. "Pray tell, how is this going to make things 'simple'?"_

"_Well, Draco has been ordered to murder me, but now it will be you that completes that task."_

_The memory-Snape looked like he'd been punched in the gut. Or taken a very nasty potion. Or just been violently ill. Or all three. "Excuse me?"_

"_Yes, well, we can't have Draco carrying out the curse, so you will ensure that you are the one to kill me. And keep an eye on him – who knows what damage he will inadvertently cause along the way."_

"_Me. Kill you." Snape was emotionless. "Would you like me to do it now? Or should I give you a few moments to compose an epitaph?"_

_Dumbledore smiled indulgently. "I daresay the moment will present itself in due time. We can be assured, anyway, that it will be within the year."_

"_What if I refuse?" Snape raised his chin defiantly._

"_Would you refuse me this?" Dumbledore asked solemnly. "A dying request from an old friend? I would much rather it come from you when presented with the more…unpleasant options, perhaps Greyback, or Bellatrix, who likes to play with her food?"_

_Severus shook his head in defeat. "This is too much."_

"_No it is not," Dumbledore said sharply, "And you know it. What you did has placed you in my debt, and you will make this payment."_

_Snape's eyes flashed dangerously. "My debt has long-since been repaid," he challenged._

"_It most certainly has not. You caused the death of two people – one of whom you cared about deeply. You left their son orphaned, to be raised by an abusive family, with the weight of the wizarding world on his shoulders. I am sorry, my boy, but your debt is steep, and it will not end with my death."_

"_You expect more from me?" Snape was incredulous._

"_Of course. After I am gone, if it is possible, you should remain at Hogwarts to ensure the protection of its students."_

"_Yes," Snape drawled, "I'm so sure they'll want to keep me on after they learn I was responsible for your demise."_

"_In the event you cannot remain here, you are to do whatever it takes to find Harry and continue your lessons with him. There are things only you can teach him, Severus. Things he must learn if he is to be successful."_

"_You are a raving lunatic. First of all, even if I wanted to do all of this, how would I get Potter out of the castle? Kidnap him? Second, he is unlikely to be very receptive to me once he learns I murdered his most beloved Headmaster. Thirdly," Severus was interrupted._

"_This is a rather long list," Dumbledore interjected._

"_Thirdly," Severus continued, "I am not sure if my position after my hand in your death will afford me with either the time or the ability to meet with Potter as often as will surely be necessary."_

"_I have the utmost confidence in you, my boy," Dumbledore smiled._

"_However undeserved it may be," Severus muttered. "And I am not a boy."_

"_You will always be one to me, in my heart; I shall always see you the way you were – that first day you walked into Hogwarts," Dumbledore whispered, his eyes brimming. "Please, Severus, please understand that I know how much I ask of you. I know this is difficult, painful, and at times, nearly intolerable. Would it help if I told you that you are a stronger man than me by far? I would never be able to do what you have done and still find it in me to wake up in the mornings."_

_Severus snorted. "Enough. Your guilt has worked its magic. I will keep an eye on Draco, I will make sure I kill you before anyone else has a chance to, I will find some way to keep contact with Potter and ensure that he learns what he needs to know. I have no idea if I will be successful in all these endeavors, but I promise you, I will try."_

_Harry was being pulled back to the surface. He stopped struggling against his bonds._

"_If I remove the silencing charm, will you make an effort to not abuse my eardrums?" Snape eyed him after removing his hand from Harry's shoulder. Harry nodded curtly. Snape waved his wand._

_When Harry didn't speak, Severus chose to fill the silence with further explanation. "I do not expect you to forgive me for what I had to do, nor do I expect you to suddenly become effused with understanding or absolution. I most certainly do not expect – or want, for that matter – for you to like __me__," he said with disdain, " just because you now know the truth behind these events. What I do ask is for your cooperation. We have much to do and very little time in which to do it. The Dark Lord is mobilizing quickly, and the time will soon come when you must fulfill your end of the prophecy."_

_Harry regarded him with no trace of readable emotion._

"_Well?" Snape prodded. "Can you? Cooperate?"_

"_I don't think we're going to accomplish much with me sitting here tied up to a chair," Harry said blandly. When Snape made no move to untie him, Harry continued. "I'm not going to bolt – I don't even know where we are. Plus, I've no idea where my wand is," at this, Severus produced it from his robes. "And fortunately for you I know what a tampered memory looks like, so there is no way for me to doubt the authenticity of what I have seen." Snape regarded him silently. Frustrated, Harry finally spat out, "Yes, all right? Yes, I can cooperate. Doesn't mean I have to like it," he finished under his breath._

"_I should think not," Snape responded, equally low._

_::_

_Harry and Snape were dueling, but it was practice. Testing out Harry's strength with new spells. Suddenly, Snape entered Harry's mind with Legilimency, and Harry felt a surge of magic rush out of his wand reflexively. Suddenly, the flashing of spells ceased. Harry looked up from where he had fallen on his knees to see Snape's unmoving form lying on the floor. He ran over to him, heart pounding not from the effort he'd been recently exerting, but from panic and fear._

"_Professor!" Harry shouted, putting his fingers to Snape's neck to feel for a pulse, terrified when he couldn't find one, he shouted again, "Snape! Professor, can you hear me?" He reached down to unbutton some of Snape's collar so he could get a better feel for the pulse. He finally found it, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He raised his wand to Ennevrate his teacher, but paused for a moment before uttering the incantation. He looked at Snape's features, unmarred by emotion in his unconscious state. Harry felt a peculiar sensation overcome him, and he realized that the horror that had flooded through him when he'd seen Snape lying on the ground and the relief that followed when he realized Snape wasn't dead were more than just courtesy feelings. He was suddenly aware that over the past few months of working with Snape, he had actually grown to care for the man. He was instantly overcome with a new type of fear. Everyone he cared about seemed to end up dead: Sirius, Dumbledore, even his parents. He wasn't sure he could afford this type of affection with Snape – by all accounts, the man wouldn't survive the impending battle – well, neither of them probably would, actually. It was this realization that gave Harry hope. If they were both going to die, then it wouldn't hurt to care. To respect, admire, rely on…Harry's hope sunk when he realized that it was an impossibility that Snape would ever feel the same way. Resigned to his one-sided revelation of emotion, he muttered the spell and watched as Snape's eyes fluttered open._

"_What the hell did you do to me, Potter?" The black eyes stared up at him with irritation. Harry bit back a smirk._

_::_

_Snape was watching Harry practice his curses on transfigured objects across the room. He was making sure the boy had his form down, seeing if he had done his homework. He was growing disconcerted with each meeting they had. Potter had seemed to actually be trying to learn something. His attitude had improved considerably – he hadn't made a rude comment for quite some time now. His temper seemed…well…tempered. In fact, even when Snape tried to purposefully taunt him, it seemed like Potter was trying to hold back…a smile? Laughter? It was incensing. He had to admit that Potter had grown into an accomplished wizard. Well-built for dueling, a keen mind, natural talent that was finally being realized; Snape shook his head out of his lost thoughts. He realized Potter had stopped practicing – he had no idea for how long. Potter's head was cocked to the side, wand held loosely down, and there was a strange look in his eyes – curiosity? Intrigue? Snape couldn't quite place it. He wanted to snap at the boy for stopping his nightly work, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Something about the way Potter was standing made him seem decidedly un-childlike. His non-wand hand rested casually on his hip, right at the pant line, his t-shirt riding up a bit. Snape could see just the barest sliver of toned flesh peeking out. His eyes snapped back up to Potter's. There was a soft, knowing smile on Potter's lips._

"_See something you like?" Potter asked softly._

_Snape paused, biting back a scathing remark. Potter really had been quite respectful these past several weeks – he supposed he could afford him the same courtesy. "Merely observing that your efforts are paying off. I'll admit that if you had shown this much initiative in your Potions classes you would have been leaps and bounds more successful."_

_Potter leveled a steady look, not breaking Snape's eye contact. "My old Potions teacher was…uninspiring," he stated._

"_Learning should not have to be inspired," Snape let out quickly._

"_All important things in life come from inspiration," Harry argued gently. "Not all inspiration is good, but it's there nonetheless."_

"_So am I to assume that your improvement in our lessons is due to some blinding revelation? Some new-found inspiration?"_

_Harry curved his lips up into a reserved, half-smile. "One could say that."_

_Severus was beginning to find this conversation silly. "And what, Mr. Potter, has become so inspiring in this short fortnight?"_

_Harry seemed to mull over his words for an inordinately long time, given what he responded with. "You."_

_Severus snorted involuntarily. "Me. Inspiring? Yes, well, perhaps you have that confused with impending doom. I hear that can be quite a motivator."_

"_No, I don't think so," Harry said softly, putting down his wand on a nearby small table. "The more time I spend with you, the more I learn about…what you do, the man you are…it's inspiring."_

_Severus was uncomfortable – for one, hearing Potter talk to him like that was strange; strange in a there-is-some-arbitrary-line-in-the-sand-and-it-has-just-been-crossed way. Second, the look in Potter's eyes as he advanced on Snape (oh God, he was advancing) was decidedly un-lesson related and Snape had never seen it from him before. Third, all of it combined was creating an unfamiliar, yet not unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach – and the fact that it was not unpleasant bothered him for reasons he could not articulate._

"_Surely, you must realize how incredible you are – if I could take back what I said that night about you being a coward, I would. It was grossly unfair of me. When I walk into battle to fight Voldemort, the thing that will keep me going is knowing that if you can do all that you've done, then I can surely do what I have to do." Harry paused, letting Severus' silence hang in the air. "Like I said, inspiring."_

_By the time Harry had finished speaking, he was less than an arm's length from Snape. He placed his hand on Snape's shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. Snape's lip trembled. "Potter," he breathed out, not sure it was loud enough for Harry to hear. He cleared his throat and tried again, "Potter." But he couldn't think of anything else to say. He was lost in the depths of Harry's eyes. He wasn't sure he'd ever been this close to the boy – man – boy before to really see his eyes. They were hypnotizing._

"_Yes?" Harry moved in half a step._

"_What…you don't…I'm not…" Severus was finding it difficult to hold his train of thought. Somewhere, his mind was trying to come up with ways to stop this moment, to say there was confusion, misunderstanding, but he couldn't formulate an argument._

"_Since that day I accidentally hexed you unconscious, I realized how wrong I'd been – about the way I felt towards you, the way I treated you, about everything. I…I care about you. I understand if you…well, if you don't feel the same way about me, but I appreciate everything you're doing – everything you've done. And in case I don't get another chance to say it, thank you." And with that, he took the final step and brought his hand on Severus' shoulder up to the back of his neck and gently pulled down so that Severus' face came perilously close to Harry's. At the last second, though, Harry turned his head and placed a light, chaste kiss on Severus' cheek._

_As Harry pulled away, Severus suddenly became aware of how bereft he felt at being denied the taste of Potter's lips, and the strange feeling that had begun in his belly had fanned out and was pooling in his groin. Before Harry could slip away, Severus drew his arms around the slender waist and pulled them back together, this time, their lips meeting with a soft touch. Harry immediately let out a groan and snaked both his hands around Severus' head, threading his fingers through the silky black hair, accepting the closeness and urging for more. Harry's lips parted and he breathed into Severus' mouth, "Professor…"_

_Snape pulled back slightly, "Mr. Potter, if you wish for this to continue, I must insist you call me Severus. For one, I am no longer your – or anyone else's – teacher. Also, it makes me feel decidedly less dirty."_

_Harry smiled, giving Severus a warm kiss before pulling back himself, "All right, Severus. You should call me Harry. It makes me feel decidedly less child-like."_

_They returned to kissing and stumbled their way over to the large wooden desk at one end of the room. Severus pushed Harry up against it, his hips grinding against Harry's making his need known. He was delighted to feel Harry's need against him as well. "How long?" Harry breathed as Severus trailed kisses down his neck, "How long have you wanted me this way?"_

_Severus had made it to the V at the base of Harry's throat. "I'm not sure," he admitted between licks on Harry's salty skin. "Does it matter?"_

_Harry shook his head. "Not in the slightest."_

_Severus suddenly became unsure of the situation. "Harry, what are you expecting from this? What is it you want from me?"_

_Harry pulled back, a confused look in his eyes. "Everything," he said, as if the answer should have been obvious. "I want as much – or as little – as you're willing to give me."_

_Severus separated them a little; Harry made a low noise of protest. "Harry, have you ever…been with anyone? How can you be sure this is what you want?"_

"_Are you referring to me knowing I'm attracted to men? Or being attracted specifically to you? Or are you asking if I'm a virgin? Or are you wondering if I'm really sure I'm completely enamored with you? I assure you," he pulled Severus back in for another kiss. "I've been with enough people and done quite enough to know exactly what – and who – I want." He trailed his kisses over to Severus' ear and sucked gently on the earlobe. He was rewarded with a soft sound of enjoyment from the back of Severus' throat. "And who I want is you." He sucked the tender spot of flesh below the ear at the jaw line. "And what I want is to share as much of myself with you as you'll let me."_

_Severus found himself running out of excuses and felt Harry pulling him back into an embrace, molding their bodies together and attending to both of their burgeoning erections. He finally voiced what he vowed would be his last concern before giving himself over to hedonistic abandon. "What about after this is all over? What is your long-term plan for all of this?"_

"_Well," Harry stopped his ministrations to Severus' neck. "I was actually under the impression that both of us are more likely to die than not, so I figured we'd enjoy it while we can. I suppose if we live through it all we can go from there. Assuming you're not too annoyed with me and might be amenable to me sticking around for a while. If we're not dead, of course."_

"_Such an optimist," Severus smirked. He pushed Harry harder into the desk. "Are you at all interested in using this desk for something entirely inappropriate or shall I transfigure it into something more comfortable?"_

_Harry looked up at him from under thick lashes, his eyes full of unconcealed desire. "I have no problem with some role playing – detention sounds rather inviting. But perhaps not tonight – I'd like our first time together to be…special," he finished, for lack of a better term._

_Severus rolled his eyes. "That is a ridiculously romantic sentiment. However, since you are willing to save the desk for another time, I shall humor you." He pulled his wand out of his sleeve and flicked it, a huge, downy bed appearing in place of the unforgiving desk._

"_Oh," Harry breathed, falling back onto the softness, "Please, please humor me…"_

_::_

Harry opened his eyes and found himself staring at the ceiling. He instantly was aware that he was naked and in bed with someone. His head snapped to the right and he saw that it was Severus.

"You all right?" Severus asked concernedly.

"How long was I out?" Harry questioned.

"I dunno, I opened my eyes about thirty seconds before you did."

"Did you see…" Harry trailed off.

"Everything?" Severus suggested. Harry nodded in confirmation. "Cleared some things up," Severus said with an air of relief.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Do you feel it, though?" Harry asked him, wondering if Severus shared not only the memories, but the new sensation that went along with them.

"Maybe – what do you feel, exactly?" Severus wondered.

"Well, it's hard to explain," Harry tried to put his feelings into coherent sentences. "Before when I would see the memories, it was like I was watching a picture – I knew it was real, and I knew it happened to me, but I couldn't feel it – I couldn't remember being there. Now, now it's like I remember – like I was there. It's not just watching anymore – I remember touch and taste and sound and everything. It's like my normal memories from this life. It's kinda weird. I suppose it's only weird because now I realize how much I wasn't experiencing in the memories before."

"Yeah, and I feel like, I feel like I can pull the memories if I want to – like they're not random anymore," Severus continued the train of thought. Harry nodded. "Stuff I haven't remembered before, it's coming back to me – like I wanted to remember our next lesson from back then and it just came to me – like it's been there forever."

"Do you think this is going to make the next eighteen months better or worse?" Harry propped himself up on his elbow.

"I dunno. I suppose we'll ace our NEWTS, now – except maybe Arithmancy. But my head is going to be full of an awful lot of stuff I'd rather be doing with you instead of getting ready for our NEWTS."

"Well," Harry conceded. "It's not like we have much of a choice." He was hit suddenly with a jolt of panic. "What time is it?" He had no idea how long they'd been laying unconscious in the bed. He grabbed his watch from the nightstand and let out a whoosh of air in relief. They still had fifteen minutes before curfew. "We'd better get out of here," he said, standing up. Severus followed suit.

As their hands hovered on the door handle, Severus turned to look at Harry. "Dumbledore was right," he said softly.

"About what?" Harry inquired.

"I'm glad we found each other, too." Severus placed a soft kiss on Harry's cheek.

"I love you, Sev."

"I love you, too."

They spent the train ride back for the Christmas holidays deciding what they would do, and how they would tell their parents. The latter proved to need more planning than the former, but they eventually mapped out their course of action.

"Harry!" Hermione cried as the boys stepped off the train. "Severus! Hugo! How are you?"

They all gave their mother a light squeeze before answering her. "We're fine, Her…Mum," Harry recovered. In the days since the dam had broken open with memories, he had begun to think of his parents as the friends they once had been. It was proving difficult to assimilate both sets of memoires.

"You lot look good," Ron grinned, leading the group away from the train. "How was first term, Hugo? Everything you'd hoped for?"

Hugo's face split into a grin nearly touching each ear. The rest of the trip home was filled with never-ending chatter from the youngest Weasley boy about classes, housemates, professors, and the like. Once the family arrived home, Harry and Severus hung back near the front door while their younger siblings rushed to amuse themselves. Ron and Hermione paused as they neared the kitchen, sensing the tension from the two boys.

"Is everything all right?" Hermione questioned with concern.

"Well, Severus and I were hoping we could speak with you about something," Harry said quietly, glancing over at Severus.

"Something important," Severus added.

"Of course," Ron's tone indicated surprise that they might think their parents unwilling to have such a discussion.

The four of them made their way into the kitchen and sat around the table – Ron and Hermione across from Harry and Severus.

"Well, this term, we've both been able to remember things," Harry began, looking down at his fidgeting fingers.

"Lots of things," Severus nudged Harry's knee with his own, earning a glance from Harry, which he returned with a look of support.

"Right," Harry looked up to meet Ron and Hermione's eyes. "Something happened and we've been able to remember everything."

It was Ron and Hermione's turn to exchange a look.

"What exactly do you mean by 'everything'?" Hermione asked cautiously, choosing to ignore her curiosity at what the 'something' might have been.

"All of it," Harry said flatly. "Our childhoods, time at Hogwarts, everything. And not just in flashes, either. We can both recall whatever we wish at will. Just like you two can. It's like it was never gone."

Ron interjected, "How do you know it's everything, though?"

"How do you know you're remembering everything from your past?" Severus asked him pointedly. "We know."

Ron seemed placated.

"Well," Hermione continued after a moment of silence. "That's wonderful. Well, I know that not everything you've remembered is wonderful, but I mean it's good that you know – that things aren't jigsawed in your mind anymore."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "We are glad. I mean, we're glad it took so long – would've been bloody awful remembering all this stuff as a kid, but now – it's taking some practice, but we're dealing with it all right."

"Good," Ron said. "What's for dinner?" He looked over at Hermione, who rolled her eyes affectionately.

Harry cleared his throat and exchanged another look with Severus. Hermione bit back a smile as she watched them interact – they were so endearing, the way they communicated silently, like they'd known each other for two lifetimes, which they had. The way they moved, subtle changes whenever one of them would shift and the other would follow suit. It was like they were connected by invisible strings. And they looked so content with each other – peaceful. Happy. It was all she had ever hoped for her best friend, never mind who he'd found happiness with.

"That's not really all we need to talk about," Harry continued, breaking his mother's inner musings.

Ron's face was quizzical.

"Well," Severus helped Harry out, "When we say we remember everything, we really mean it. Everything we learned at school, we remember it. We've discussed it and we want to sit our NEWTS this year. The only class we really need to study is Arithmancy," Severus was cut off.

"And Runes," Harry reminded him. Severus nodded in his direction.

"Right," Severus continued. "So we were thinking that next term we would drop the other courses and sit in on sixth and seventh year classes for Arithmancy – and Runes, for Harry – and work with the professors after classes and then sit our NEWTS with the seventh years at the end of term."

The silence was pregnant in the air while the four of them sat, each of them consumed with thought – Harry and Severus with nervousness over their parents' reactions, Ron with confusion and protest, and Hermione with calculated logic.

"Do you really think it's wise to drop your other classes? What if you don't really remember as much as you think you do? Maybe it would be best to finish out school as you're meant to," Hermione was cautionary.

"Well," Harry smirked, "We thought about that. We figured we could meet with the professors of the other subjects and have them test us – make sure we could do what we needed to to pass the NEWTS. But we know we will – I remember sitting in class, learning everything. I remember working nights with Ron –erm, Dad – on essay after essay – and you swearing not to help us but then checking them all over anyway." Harry thought back on the time the three of them had spent together that final year.

Ron and Hermione evidently remembered as well. "She always was a sucker for good marks – didn't want us ruining our future if she could prevent it," Ron chuckled, giving Hermione a squeeze around the shoulders while she smiled and shook her head.

Severus added his thoughts. "And I not only remember my time at Hogwarts as well, but the years that followed. I'm fairly confident I could pass the NEWTS with my eyes closed. And one hand tied behind my back. Maybe both." He paused before continuing, a wicked glint in his eye. "After all, I have it on good authority that I happen to be a very…talented…wizard," he winked at Harry.

"Yeah," Harry jumped in quickly, "So if we stayed in those classes for the rest of this year, and then all of next…we'd be pretty bored. And I don't think it would be a good idea if we were bored. Might lead to things. We might even feel the need to skive off class. Spend some time in the Room of Requirement," he added, to punctuate his point.

"Ewww!" Ron blanched. "Don't need to hear that!"

Harry's eyes widened in mocked surprise, "What? What did I say?"

"Enough," Hermione chided with a smile. "You've convinced us – now we just need to convince Professor McGonagall – and your other teachers, of course."

"Well," Harry exchanged a careful glance with Severus, "We sort of already asked them. Not Professor McGonagall, though. We figured we'd wait and talk to you before we asked her."

"How thoughtful of you," Hermione drawled.

"Sorry," Harry pretended to be abashed. He remembered the tone she was using – she used it back then with both him and Ron when they had done something particularly reckless that ended up working out all right.

"Well, I suppose we owl her tonight and let her think on it over the holidays," Ron suggested. Hermione agreed, and they had penned the missive before dinner.

Professor McGonagall had proven to be surprisingly agreeable to the situation, and when Harry and Severus returned to school for the final semester, they were tested by all their professors, save Arithmancy (and Runes for Harry) and passed muster with flying colors. After that, their days were filled with constant studying in the only subjects they had never taken, as well as brushing up on Apparition, which they would be taking the licensing test for at the next available session after the Easter holidays.

With all the work they were doing, Harry and Severus managed very few encounters in the Room of Requirement, but the time they spent there was well used and much appreciated. With their new-found remembrances, their loving was like coming home after a long absence – they felt like they were getting reacquainted with each other after an extended holiday apart. They also spent quite a bit of time thinking about their future outside of school.

"What do you suppose we ought to do?" Harry finally asked Severus one day between classes while they relaxed at the edge of the lake.

"I dunno," Severus admitted. "All I was really qualified to do before was teach, spy, and kill people."

Harry shuddered. He'd not quite been able to accept the dark things Severus had done in his past, even though he understood them.

"Well, I was determined to be an Auror, but I'm not sure I really want to do that this time 'round."

"Why not?" Severus puzzled, turning to look at him, "You'd be a great Auror."

"Maybe," Harry mused, still staring at the lake, "But it feels like that decision was attached more to the feelings I was having at the time – fighting Voldemort, Death Eaters at every turn; there was so much evil in the world then that isn't there now. And that compulsion isn't there for me anymore, either."

"There's still evil out there," Severus countered. "You'd still have lots you could do."

Harry redirected the conversation, "What about you? What do you want to do now that there's no one to spy for or Dark Lord to follow?" He turned to meet Severus' gaze. He saw a flash of anger go through Severus' eyes.

"Don't do that," Severus snapped. "That's unfair."

Harry was contrite. "I know; I'm sorry." And he was.

It was Severus' turn to look back out onto the lake. "I know I hated teaching then, but it doesn't seem so awful to me now. I think I'd rather enjoy it now."

Harry snorted, drawing Severus' eyes back to him. "You were an awful teacher. You hated us – well, me, anyway. All Gryffindors, I suspect. Kids in general. You'd really want to go back to that?"

"I was awful to everyone because I hated my life, not because I hated teaching. Or kids. And I didn't hate you," he finished quietly.

"Now who's being unfair?" Harry asked with an edge to his voice. "I remember it too, you know. The things you said, how you treated me. I forgive you; it doesn't change how I feel about you now, but it doesn't make the past any less real, either."

"You only remembered what happened to you and how you felt about it. You don't know what I was feeling when I did it." Severus' words hit home for Harry. "I didn't hate you. I hated what you represented to me – a person, a whole group of people, actually, who made seven years of my life a living hell. A mistake I made that was so massive that it resulted in the death of the one person I truly cared for – aside from Dumbledore, but at the time, I didn't even care about him. I hated that I was in his debt, in your debt – in the debt of your father. I hated that I had to relive all of that every single time I looked at you. You did nothing to deserve it, but that didn't change how I felt. Or how I dealt with it. I know it doesn't atone for anything, but I realize how wrong I was. I realized it when I began to fall in love with you, during our lessons that last year."

Both boys were silent as their gazes fixed back on the still surface of the lake. They saw a tentacle break the serenity and send ripples across the water as it dipped back down. The sun was hot on their faces.

"You'd be a wonderful teacher," Harry finally said in a low voice, his tone both asking for, and giving, forgiveness.

"You would, too," Severus offered, finally looking back at Harry.

"Me?" Harry was surprised as his head snapped over to question Severus' suggestion.

"Sure," Severus smiled. "Everyone loves you, all the people you've helped with homework over the years always ended up better off for it. And you're wicked brilliant."

"True," Harry laughed. "We both are pretty incredible."

"Talented," Severus hinted.

"In the classroom and out," Harry played along.

"In bed, more like," Severus leaned over to peck Harry's shoulder.

"You flatter me," Harry pretended to blush.

"I was talking about myself!" Severus joked.

"Prat," Harry leaned over and gave Severus a matching shoulder peck.

"Brat," Severus retorted, lolling his head back to feel the heat of the day.

"You know you love me," Harry teased, lying down and folding his hands behind his head.

"More than anything," Severus said, suddenly serious.

Harry turned to look at him, "That is uncharacteristically romantic," he said with raised eyebrows.

"Perhaps," Severus broke into a crooked smile, "But no less true." He lay down as well and folded his hands on his stomach.

"So you think I'd make a good teacher, huh?" Harry asked into the sky.

"Yeah – maybe Charms. Or Defense."

"You always wanted to teach Defense. I remember the look on your face each year when we'd get a new teacher and it wasn't you. Ron and Hermione and I loved seeing you so irritated."

"The three of you really did make my life a living hell," Severus muttered.

"Not as much as Neville," Harry offered.

Severus couldn't contain his laughter. "No, no one was worse than Longbottom. Urg, 'Uncle Neville' – how bizarre."

"I keep having to remember to not call Mum and Dad 'Hermione' or 'Ron'," Harry grimaced.

"You think that's bad, I was fighting all holiday trying not to call them 'Ms. Granger' or 'Mr. Weasley'," Severus countered.

Now Harry was the one with uncontrolled mirth. "You should have, just to see their faces. I would have paid Galleons for that."

"Do you think we could teach here?" Severus steered the conversation back on topic.

"Hmm, maybe. Think McGonagall would take us? There aren't any openings. Although, maybe there could be in three years, after we're done with University. Do you want to go back to Potions? You could probably convince her to give you Defense, what with Voldemort gone and all."

"Maybe, I like Potions, Runes, too. One of us should convince her to let us take over for Binns. He's been torturing generations for far too long."

"Mmm, not likely – neither of us went past OWLS in that one."

"Who'd need to?"

"Want to, 'smore like it."

The both snorted.

"Let's do it," Harry finally said. "Let's go for our teaching license and then come back here. If McGonagall won't take us on, we could always try Beauxbatons or Durmstrang."

"True," Severus agreed. "Sounds good. We should go inside, though, class is about to start."

And with that, they packed up their things and made their way back to the castle.

NEWTS were over and the castle was winding down once again for the end of the year. Harry and Severus stood outside Professor McGonagall's office. Harry reached up and knocked gently.

"Enter," came the familiar voice behind the wood.

"Harry," she looked up over her spectacles, "Severus, how can I help you?"

"Well," Harry began as they both sat down. "We came to ask you about teaching positions."

She sat up, a half-confused, half-intrigued look grew on her face. "Teaching positions? Here?"

"Yes," Severus confirmed. "Harry and I have decided to pursue a teaching career and were wondering if you might consider taking us on after we've finished our course work."

"I must admit," she finally replied, "I find this highly unexpected."

"We figured you might," Harry tried not to smile. "But we've talked about it – at quite some length – and it really is what we want to do. I'm not interested in being an Auror anymore."

"And I no longer have anyone to hate, including myself, and believe I would not only be just as successful as before, but would also enjoy it this time around," Severus explained his own motivations.

"Well," McGonagall said with continued surprise, "I can't promise you I'd have any positions available once you are finished with your curriculum, but if I do, you are welcome to come back and interview with me. Which subjects are you planning to pursue?"

"I figured I'd get licensed for Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense," Harry told her.

"I am interested in Runes, Defense, and," Severus gave a half-smile, "Potions, of course."

McGonagall returned the slight upturn of mouth, "Of course."

"As to the positions, we were thinking," Harry began.

"I thought I smelled smoke," Severus said under his breath.

Harry turned to him and swatted his arm, "Prat." He turned back to McGonagall to continue, "Well, Severus and I were noticing how much the enrollment has increased in the past few years and how large the classes are getting. We thought that it might be time to create some additional sections for the required courses to lower the student-teacher ratio."

McGonagall's eyes widened. "Additional sections? I'd not thought of that. I'll have to write to the Board of Governors, of course, to secure their approval for the additional salaries, and of course I'd have to hire other teachers for all the subjects that we'd be expanding," she paused, her eyes flitting between Harry and Severus, who had poorly-concealed, boyish looks of excitement on their faces. "I think all that work might take me, oh, I don't know, probably about three years."

Severus and Harry exchanged a look of glee. "Really? Oh, thank you, Professor, we really mean it, this is exactly what we want to do – this time around, anyway. We promise we won't let you down," Harry gushed.

"Well," she said, back to her usual demeanor, "See that you don't. I take it you have applied to the Wizarding Teacher's Preparatory College in London?"

They both nodded.

"And have you heard back from them?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed. "Yesterday. We've both been accepted."

"Congratulations. I am sure you will be just as successful in this endeavor as you have been in all your others. You two were never ones to do anything halfway," she rolled her eyes as she remembered their storied pasts. "Go on, both of you now. I'll see you back here in three years."

Severus and Harry thanked her again and left the office, practically floating with excitement.


	7. Chapter 7

_Very mature content - slash - read with discretion_

**Chapter 7**

It hadn't taken long for them to find a suitable flat to share in London while they attended school there. They both had plenty of money – that was something Ron and Hermione had adamantly refused to touch the entire time Harry and Severus had been in their care. The place they found was well located – near the school but also within a convenient distance to other necessary places, not the least of which was the Leaky Cauldron. It hadn't taken long for them to move the few possessions they had from their parents' house into the flat, and they had enjoyed shopping for other furnishings together. Especially the bed.

"I had fantasies about doing this stuff with you, you know," Harry said as they were assembling a bookshelf one afternoon before the start of term.

"Fantasies of putting together furniture? How scintillating," Severus mocked.

"You know what it mean," Harry rolled his eyes. "Us, making a life together, having forever."

Severus rewarded him with a soft look that held a thousand words of deep emotion. "I was so sure we would never get it. I was ready to die. I was determined to not have to live without you. I would have rather died than have you be killed but leave me behind."

"So noble," Harry smirked. "Inspiring, one might say," using the word that had led to their first night of passion together.

"Indeed," Severus agreed, finishing the bookshelf and leaning it against the wall.

"I think the books can wait," Harry said, coming around the shelf and taking Severus' hand. "I believe we have some more pressing business to attend to."

"Hmmm? And what would that be, Mr. Potter?" Severus moved into Harry and leaned down to brush their lips together.

"Well, the bed arrived earlier today," Harry said in a low, suggestive voice, sending shivers down Severus' spine.

"Did it? I hadn't noticed," Severus lied.

"Distracted, were you?" Harry trailed his kisses along Severus' jaw and down his neck to where his t-shirt began.

"Very. You're incredibly sexy when you work with your hands." Severus leaned his head back to give Harry better access to his neck.

"You'd know all about how good I am with my hands," Harry breathed as he moved up to tickle Severus' earlobe with his tongue.

"Mmmm," was all Severus responded with.

"I believe our bed needs to be tested. It will have to be sturdy, what with all the use it's going to get, now that we're of age and out of school," Harry pulled away from their embrace and pulled Severus' hand toward the bedroom.

"Ahhh," Severus feigned despair, "No parents, no teachers, no brother, sisters, or cousins to watch our every move, whatever shall we do?"

Harry pushed him onto the bed, climbing on top of him like a jungle cat. "I can think of a few things," he purred. He sat up and peeled his shirt off, sweaty from putting together various items throughout the day. He ran his hands underneath Severus' shirt, ghosting over the nipples and delighting as Severus arched in pleasure. Severus lifted up for him as Harry removed the shirt. He brought his lips to Severus' chest, salty with the sweat from the day, yet smooth and supple as always. Severus' hands found their way to Harry's waist and began to unbutton his jeans. Harry got back up off the bed – earning a groan of protest from Severus. "Things will be a bit more difficult if we're both half clothed," he smirked, kicking off his pants and boxers. Severus rolled his eyes but removed his remaining clothing as well, then scooted up so he was fully on the bed. Harry crawled back to him, joining their lips together in a hungry kiss as their bodies melded together. They rolled around on the bed – which didn't even have sheets on it yet – and explored each other's now-familiar bodies with their hands. On top of Harry, Severus found the spot on the neck that reduced Harry to pudding and began to lick and nip with his teeth. Moans of pleasure rose out of Harry's throat as he thrust his hips up against Severus, their cocks meeting in the middle. Both of them gasped together at the sensation, strong surges of heat jolting through their bodies.

"Want you," Severus murmured into Harry's shoulder. "Inside me," he kissed the available skin softly.

"Really?" Harry focused with curiosity. "We've never done it like that."

"Don't care," Severus said into Harry's open lips as he resumed kissing him tenderly. He summoned the lubricant and thrust it into Harry's hands. "Want you," he breathed, pressing his hips meaningfully into Harry's, as if to emphasize his point. "Love you," he whispered as he pulled himself off of Harry and allowed Harry to move between his legs. He heard Harry applying the thick oil to his fingers and the anticipation was almost too much for him; he had to remind himself to breathe.

"Ahhh!" he moaned as he felt Harry's fingers drag along his cleft, so lightly, gently, he wasn't even sure they were there. He desperately wished he had something to bite as he felt Harry circle his opening. The sensations were so intense he thought he might implode. He couldn't control his hips as they jerked up to meet Harry's finger when it slid inside him. He was vaguely aware that he was making noise, but he had no idea what he was saying.

Harry bent down to feather kisses along Severus' back as he added a finger to his preparation. "Love you," he said, not sure it was loud enough for Severus to hear over the mewling he was making. He added a third and final finger and was able to feel the bump that Severus always managed to hit when he was inside Harry. He smiled evilly as he gave it a gentle nudge.

"Fuck!" Severus cried, his entire body rising off the bed.

"I believe that's my line," Harry teased. He pulled Severus to his hands and knees and then positioned his cock at Severus' entrance. He quickly coated himself with the lube and then took Severus' hips with his hands. "Ready?" He asked, knowing full well the answer.

"Oh God yes, please, please, yes," Severus begged, shoving his hips backward against Harry's hold.

Harry pulled Severus back at the same time he pushed his own hips forward and he slid inside and gasped at the brand new sensation. It was all he could do not to come instantly. Severus was so hot and tight – it was like being in his mouth, only a million times better. He drove himself in until he could go no further, their skin pressed tight against each other.

"Oh, fuck, Harry, move, dammit!" Severus tried to rock his hips. "I swear, I'll never make you wait again! Please, please go," he babbled senselessly.

Harry closed his eyes and began to move slowly – in and out, concentrating on not coming too soon. Once he felt he had a handle on the nerve endings that were firing everywhere, he picked up the pace, finally removing his hands from Severus' hips. With the newfound freedom, Severus began moving with Harry, thrusting back as Harry hammered forward. Harry leaned into Severus' back and clamped one hand on Severus' shoulder as he snaked his free hand around and grabbed Severus' hardened cock.

"Ohhh, fuuuuuhhhh," Severus couldn't even finish his expletive at the burning feeling Harry's touch created. Pleasure coursed through him, different than anything he had felt during their previous love-making. He was breathing so fast and so hard he realized he was going to hyperventilate, but he couldn't make himself stop – or care. Harry gave a sharp tug on his cock and Severus' entire body locked up – every muscle tensed as he poured himself over Harry's hand.

Severus clenching around him, and hearing Severus calling out his name did something incredible to Harry. His mind left his body and he was in an entirely different universe as he exploded, emptying himself inside Severus. Their bodies rocked together – their minds, their souls, joined in that other place, that unearthly heaven that they shared with only each other.

Finally, they came back to their senses, and Harry planted a heavy kiss on Severus' back before withdrawing himself and flopping down next to him. Severus turned gracefully and landed on his back. They immediately tangled up into each other, limbs crossed, hands caressing skin gently, Harry's head burrowed into Severus' chest.

"Why in the world did we never try that before?" Severus gasped, still breathless.

"No idea," Harry replied. "Probably something to do with you being the teacher – older, more experienced, whatever."

"How do you know I was more experienced?" Severus pulled back and Harry looked up to meet his eyes.

"You weren't a virgin the first time we had sex, were you?" Harry wondered.

"No, but you weren't either," Severus pointed out. Harry blushed as a guilty look crept onto his face. "You were a virgin? You told me you weren't!" Severus was trying not to get angry – it was pointless.

"No, I just said I'd done enough to be sure I wanted to be with you. And I had. I'm glad I've never been with anyone else."

"Sneaky brat," Severus said half-heartedly, pulling Harry's forehead back to his chest. "You should have been with me in Slytherin."

"Maybe if we go back for a third time I'll manage it," Harry joked.

"Gah!" Severus threw his head back in disgust, "Don't ever say that again! The only thing I'm going to do the next time I walk back into that castle is teach."

"The only thing?" Harry said provocatively, squirming to get even closer to Severus, even though that wasn't really possible.

"Maybe not the only thing," Severus conceded, kissing the top of Harry's head.

"At least we have a new variation to add to our repertoire," Harry said cheerfully.

"Oh, I believe we should most certainly include that into the rotation," Severus agreed, squeezing Harry.

"After all, I didn't get to experience much past seventeen before – it's high time I started making new memories," he sighed into Severus and closed his eyes.

"Indeed," Severus murmured, nuzzling his nose in Harry's hair. He summoned a blanket, and soon they were both snoring softly, asleep in each other's arms.


	8. Chapter 8

**Epilogue**

_1998_

"_I appreciate you accommodating me," Dumbledore's portrait addressed Draco._

_Draco nodded curtly._

"_We only have a few moments before the Headmistress returns – she has graciously granted me this time alone with you. And of course I do want to make sure you don't miss any of your classes. I would hate to interfere with your NEWTS, so I will make this brief. It seems I have a favor to ask of you," he continued. _

_Draco's eyes widened in surprise and protest, "A favor? What makes you think I would do a favor for you?"_

"_Well, you did try to kill me last year," Dumbledore pointed out. "Perhaps you'd consider this an apology?"_

_Draco looked appropriately abashed. "All right, sir. What do you need me to do? Do you need to talk to Snape? I can probably figure out where he's hiding, maybe send him an OWL. I'm not sure anyone will let him back in the castle after…well, after what he did to you."_

"_No, my boy, that is not what I need to ask of you. This is only something that you need carry out during the inevitable final battle, which I am assuming will take place here at Hogwarts."_

"_Probably," Draco agreed._

"_Well," Dumbledore leaned forward in his chair, so far that if he hadn't been painted, he might have fallen out, and began conspiratorially, "How much do you know about de-aging curses?"_


	9. Chapter 9

**Epilogue 2**

_The school year was over and the Headmistress' office was empty. Most of the former Headmasters and Headmistress' portraits had abandoned their frames for other portraits that provided more entertaining surroundings. Albus Dumbledore, however, remained in his, occupying a chintz, squishy armchair not unlike those he had been famous for conjuring back in his living days. _

_He was inordinately pleased with himself. Of course, had he known Harry and Severus had already gotten together before the final battle, he wouldn't have had to resort to 'Plan B' with Draco, but no matter – the result was the same. He smiled, settling back in his chair and closing his eyes for a nice, long nap. Yes, he was done meddling. For now._

::

_FINIS_


End file.
